Destination Management in the Travel and Tourism Industry

The aim of the Bachelor´s Field of study Destination Management in the Travel and Tourism Industry is to prepare its graduates for their broad employment in the public, statutory and business sectors of the travel and tourism industry, their management primarily on the middle and lower levels.

This field of study is intended for students who want to obtain knowledge and skills required for the management of the travel and tourism industry in public administration, in private sector and particular organizations of destination management in various legal forms as well as on different levels - international, national, regional, local.

Major field study subjects: Fundamentals of Travel and Tourism Industry, Marketing of Travel and Tourism Destination, Fundamentals of Hospitality and Gastronomy, Regional Planning and Economy, Destination Management in the Travel and Tourism Industry, Management of Spa and Wellness Services.
Optional subjects: students can choose those subjects that help them to develop their knowledge and skills e.g. in the field of Transport Service in Tourism, Guide services and Animation, Sales Techniques and travel agency´s operations and others.
Subject of common theoretical fundamentals primarily are Macroeconomics for bachelor´s program, Microeconomics for bachelor´s program, Management, Marketing, Banks and Financial Markets.

Characteristics of professions, graduates, employment
Students of this program are prepared to utilize and apply fundamental theoretical knowledge in the fields of economy, management, statistics, marketing, finance, accountancy, law, two foreign languages and further know-how connected with tourism destination management. The study develops abilities of planning, organizing, managing as well as of efficient leadership and assessment of human resources. Graduates can find employment in domestic and international institutions and are prepared to hold managerial positions (on lower and mid-management levels) and positions of specialists (marketing, sales, management of operations, and alike) in public authorities or private organizations.

Graduate´s employment opportunities

in organizations of destination management on all territorial levels,
in institutions of public administration (e.g. regional authorities, municipal authority and municipal offices),
in information tourism centres/bureaus,
in tourism and hobby associations,
in managerial bodies of state administration (e.g. Ministry for Local Development of the Czech Republic),
in organizations dealing in marketing of travel and tourism industry (tourism centres),
in companies supporting convention tourism events (e.g. Prague Convention Bureau, Carlsbad Convention Bureau).

Study results

ability to analyze and interpret market demands, especially on tourism market from the point of competitiveness increase of a particular tourism destination,
ability to manage and coordinate travel and tourism product offers in a particular destination,
ability to follow and apply trends in the field of destination management,
ability to manage destination management organization on the lower and mid levels (other institutions and organizations dealing in travel and tourism management in public administration bodies, self-government and private sector),
ability to collect data and information and their consequent analysis with results implemented in a form of particular arrangements supporting tourism development in the destination,
ability to communicate in two foreign languages.

Professional knowledge and skills
The competence of the graduate from the studies is based on common economic-managerial fundament. The graduates gain knowledge of wider social context of their study field. The subjects of common fundamentals for all study programs Gastronomy, Hospitality Management and Tourism provide students with essential skills, above all, in application of theoretical knowledge in tourism destination operations.

Graduates prove their essential competence in managerial, economic and legal disciplines complemented with their knowledge of professional disciplines as for example fundamentals of travel and tourism industry, destination management in the travel and tourism industry, spa and wellness services management, regional planning and economy. Graduates obtain more profound knowledge of travel and tourism issues while studying particular specific optional subjects.

The graduate

knows the economic system, functioning of market economy in conditions of perfect and imperfect competitiveness and knows the decision-making processes of economic subjects,
understands macro-economic cycle, macro-economic balance and economic fluctuation within short and long period,
is able to carry out an analysis needed for solutions of particular practical situations while using information and communication technologies,
has fundamental knowledge of company management, role of the management and decision-making processes, knows mutual relation between company and HR strategies,
identifies essential principles of regional policy on the level of the European Union and the Czech Republic and can explain differences between regional and territorial planning,
proves the practical know-how of different forms of professional communication in both spoken and written forms within the framework of current communication context,
knows the fundamentals of legal regulations of social relations, namely in the field of travel and tourism industry, hospitality management, gastronomy and spa services.

Professional knowledge and skills
Graduates obtain and develop their skills in the field of tourism destination planning, management and marketing. They command fundamental issues of public administration and know how to apply measures of sustainable destination development.

The graduate

is able to analyze key regions of concentration and implementation of tourism activities in the world and in the Czech Republic, (s)he orientates in particular tourism services, is able to indicate their position in the system of services, their mutual links and relations,
is able to focus on company management operations from the point of the market (offer and demand), can characterize essential management problems, set the organizational company structure of destination management, plan individual steps leading to efficient management of the destination, compare and assess competitiveness of the destination,
is able to get oriented in i the activities of company management aimed at services, travel and tourism and hospitality,
is able to work with methods used in the company practice both in company development analysis, and in calculation of efficiency of particular company activities that constitute the fundamentals of qualified managerial decision-making,
is able to get oriented in economic issues of real economy on the level of economic subjects and solve essential economic issues,
can elaborate marketing situation analysis of a particular tourism destination, analyze the correctness of destination vision formulation, is able to formulate destination management mission, set strategic marketing goals of destination development, work out the current profile of visitors to the destination, suggest strategic target market of visitors, elaborate suitable marketing mix for a particular tourism destination.