Today tourism is the world’s largest industry and its biggest employer. The significance of tourism to the Asia Pacific region and in particular Australia is in line with this trend. From small beginnings a mere 20 years ago, tourism is now Australia’s largest revenue earner and, according to independent research (Tourism NSW), is America’s most desirable destination. Australia has been described as ‘the world’s greatest tourist playground offering the most exciting and diverse range of experiences imaginable’. Students participating in this course will visit many of its stunning natural, cultural and man-made attractions. In doing so, they will discover the marketing and management techniques that have been used to create such impressive tourism growth whilst conserving the natural and built heritage environments credited with attracting tourists in the first place. 

This six-week, ninety-hour program is comprised of lectures, industry case studies, workshops, industry presentations, field excursions and travel throughout some of the most prominent and diverse tourist destinations in Australia. At these locations students come face to face with tourism and recreation management issues facing public and private organisations across the broad spectrum of sectors that make up the tourism industry. The combination of theory and real life business management case studies provide students with a uniquely engaging and enriching way of learning how Australia is addressing the challenge of sustainability within the context of tourism and recreation management. Through field trips to businesses and key attractions at the various geographic locations, students will experience first hand the behind-the-scenes operations necessary for orchestrating the great ‘tourist theme park’ that is Australia. The interdisciplinary approach utilised throughout the program incorporating marketing, business management, sociology, psychology, history and biology aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills that can be used in a range of industries and future careers. 

Locations:

The program commences in Darwin, in the ‘Top End’ of Australia. Here learning will focus on nature-based recreation and tourism impacts and visitor management strategies. Lectures, guest speakers and case studies will be complemented by visits to local attractions, including an unforgettable three-day camping expedition into Kakadu, Australia’s largest World Heritage-listed National Park. Students will experience its spectacular scenery of vibrant wetlands, beautiful waterfalls, incredible bird life, reptiles and saltwater crocodiles. The area also boasts the longest continuous surviving human culture and rock art in the world, that of the traditional owners of the land – the Aboriginal people.

From Darwin, students will journey to Melbourne, Australia's second largest city and a major sporting and cultural hub. Here students will visit recently developed tourist sites of Federation square and South Bank and develop an understanding of the attraction of Australian cities on which to base latter comparisons.

In week three, the program moves to Sydney where students will be based at The University of New South Wales. Described by the American Travel and Leisure Magazine as the ‘best city in the world’, Sydney has something exciting and captivating for everyone. Set around a magnificent harbour are such world-famous icons as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and an Opera House which has been awarded ‘the building of the 20th century’ by the Guggenheim Institute. Classes will draw on Sydney’s built attractions as references, such as the historical Rocks area, and field trips with access to senior management will complement these studies and ensure that your behind-the-scenes experience is continued. A visit to Olympic Park will focus on the event-management capabilities responsible for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the legacy of infrastructure that remains today.

In week six, students will travel to the Gold Coast, the theme park capital of Australia, where excursions will complement studies in theme park management and resort development. From the Gold Coast, Cairns will be the last stop of the program. Here studies will move from man-made to the natural attractions of tropical North Queensland, which include the superb Daintree rainforest and the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. The facilities there will be used to reference the examination of nature-based and activities–based recreation and sustainable tourism.

For more program information, please visit the program website.