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Wageningen University

Sustainable Tourism: Rethinking the future

Wageningen University via edX

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Overview

Sustainable tourism development put into practice
In this course you will be teamed up and challenged to apply your argumentation skills to implement insights from various tourism disciplines and different social science perspectives to current tourism developments. For example:

Sociology: how is tourism organised (laws/regulations)?
Psychology: what effects how tourists experience tourism (COVID 19?!)
Geography: what does tourism development mean for a particular location?

Learn of and work on promising and new tourism developments, such as Van Life and voluntourism and other inspiring changes observed in the tourism industry. Recognize and co-create future narratives as a tool to compose new business cases and/or project proposals in your professional context. Implement these perspectives to a tourism practice of your choice, and share your insights through regular feedback with experts and other participants in this course.

Debates on sustainable tourism development
Sustainable alternatives can only become real if we allow for an open space for continuous discussion and representation of new ideas. That's why this MOOC offers a platform for ongoing discussions of tourism developments, where you are encouraged to engage in meaningful debates on these innovative developments as they appear, during the course as well as after completion.

The effects of Corona virus on the tourism industry
There is no doubt that tourism has been greatly affected by the Corona pandemic. With the upcoming attempt to rebound post-Corona, the industry faces a choice: back to business-as-usual or re-invention toward more sustainable practices, such as ecotourism? But also, how has Corona effected tourists? We will discuss all related questions throughout our tourism courses.

For whom
Whether you work in tourism, are a tourism related business owner or a fervent traveller, join us for this MOOC as we apply science to a broad array types of tourism. Then come up with your very own to help drive sustainability in tourism. Subscribe now!

Professional Certificate Programme

This online course is part of the Professional Certificate Programme Tourism in Transition: Exploring a Sustainable Future, along with the MOOCs: Sustainable Tourism: Society & Environmental Aspects and Tourism and Climate Change.

Syllabus

Module 1: Tourism Studies and Development

In module 1, you will learn more about the cases from which we will depart in this course. Each case represents a unique setting in which tourism develops one way or another. As situational these cases appear, they may well connect with other practices that you are familiar with or have a special interest in. It is also possible to come up with your own case and find collaborators (other learners) who wish to join you in the exploration of this case. We very much welcome your creativity in outlining a case that is of interest to you!

If you are eager to move forward and engage in a dialogue on these cases, you must enrol as a verified learner. As a verified learner, you are given access to your own team environment but also to previous ideas developed in this course. You can work with other international team members on a case of your choice, share inspiring solutions to problems addressed, participate in (optional) fieldwork and engage in analyses corresponding to modules 2-4.

Module 2: Psychology of Tourism

In module 2, you will get an overview of the psychology of tourism and explain tourist experiences before, during and after holiday trips.

Module 3: Sociology of Tourism

In module 3, you will get an overview of the sociology of tourism, and learn how to explore the policy environment of any tourism case.

Module 4: Geography of Tourism

In module 4, you will get an overview of the geography of tourism, and learn how to explore the politics of place making and objects in tourism contexts.

Wrapping Up and Looking Forward

In module 5, we will invite you and your team members to present your group findings to all learners of this course. As such, you can possibly become inspired with the work of other learners in this course and gain final feedback to improve your final team vision.

Finally, verified learners can complete this course by filing a personal report in which you reflect on the team process and outcomes individually.

Taught by

Arjaan Pellis and Jonas Skutka

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Reviews

4.0 rating, based on 74 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Sustainable Tourism: Rethinking the future

  • Anonymous
    I audited all 4 Wageningen courses in this series. It was my first experience with MOOCs, so i went in with no expectations, but was still disappointed. the best way i can describe the quality is: feed 6 research papers to chatgpt and ask it to ma…
  • Anonymous
    Neutral–academic (safe) The course content was informative, but the learning experience felt limited due to a lack of engaging and genuinely interactive activities. While the theoretical material was relevant, more practical, hands-on, or collabora…
  • Anonymous
    Tourism is my passion and I want to work in improving the long term sustainability of the sector in my professional career. The topics covered in this course were therefore of natural interest to me and in some cases helped me gain interesting insig…
  • Anonymous
    The content of the lectures was interesting, however, it did not reflect on what you would expect from the title. This course gives a general overview of research practices in tourism, it does not give actual insights about sustainable tourism or fu…
  • Anonymous
    The content is really interesting but please please please make the team assignment more centralized instead of spread out over 20 pages and take a more active role in the team formation. Right now the team work was extremely hard to get going.
  • Anonymous
    I like to content of the course, but I think there needs to be some improvement done. All the different documents can be arranged in a better way to make it easier for us to follow along. There should also be some form of (or better) communication w…
  • Anonymous
    This course offered a fresh and thoughtful perspective on sustainable tourism. It challenged the traditional views and encouraged us to think critically about tourism’s impact on people, places, and the planet. The combination of theory, real-world examples, and interactive assignments helped me understand the complexities of sustainability in tourism. The instructors were clear and engaging, and the use of case studies like Faia Brava made the content relatable and practical. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in shaping a more responsible future for travel.
  • Anonymous
    This course offered a fresh and thoughtful perspective on sustainable tourism. It challenged the traditional views and encouraged us to think critically about tourism’s impact on people, places, and the planet. The combination of theory, real-world examples, and interactive assignments helped me understand the complexities of sustainability in tourism. The instructors were clear and engaging, and the use of case studies like Faia Brava made the content relatable and practical. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in shaping a more responsible future for travel.
  • Anonymous
    The course is very informative and well-structured. It helped me understand the importance of sustainable tourism and the challenges the industry faces. The content is clear and the real-life cases made learning more interesting. I recommend it to anyone interested in tourism or sustainability.
  • Anonymous
    Overal, the course is well structured. A lot attention is paid to different aspects of the topic and a wide vary on materials are provided. The variety on educational materials is also nice and supporting where we can learn through videos, texts, assignments and participating in discussions. However, one small tip would be make the instructions on what the students have to do, or where to hand in what more clear. Beceause now it is all over the place.
  • Anonymous
    I registered for the free version and was extremely disappointed. Unless you upgrade for the paid/verified version, you are unable to access the majority of this course' materials and resources, so utterly worthless.
  • Anonymous
    A very eye-opening introduction to sustainable tourism, which helps shift perspectives and consider the many different aspects that make up the tourism experience. I found the organization of the course quite insightful, as it laid the groundwork for a deeper understanding of the tourism phenomenon. A new, refreshing approach, based on shared reflections and practical applications
  • Anonymous
    The course is built up well and the inputs are interesting. It is more challenging than the first part of the "sustainable tourism" module and I feel like I really learned something. Sometimes a bit repetetive. One big con I have to word however, i…
  • Anonymous
    This course is very good because it helps learners to re-thinking some of the emerging tourism cases like Psychology, Sociology and Geography etc. The Psychology is foremost concerned with perceptions, motivations, feelings or emotions. Sociology of tourism also studies humans as social beings, how they live together in various societies. Tourism geography explores the interactions amongst tourists, visitors and inhabitants in and with places. In the nutshell, Learners also learn from each other's expertise and experiences.
  • Anonymous
    The course instructors within the videos have a lot of positive energy. However, I believe we needed a better guide or coach in the teamwork section. The learning material and order of the course outline flowed. But as we what I stated in my review in for the first course in sustainable tourism, more resources and links to trends, current events or even job libraries should be given
  • Anonymous
    I really enjoyed joining this course because not only i can get the knowledge and better understanding on how to initiate and solving problem in sustainability tourism but also I gain more experiences by working together with other students from around the world with different background, state of mind, and location. Hopefully i can applied this knowledge in my daily job and for my own country.
  • Anonymous
    I think it's definitely a bit more time consuming than what we might think, and not as self-paced as some might like it. I do think it's worth it though, the information they provide and the tools they provide make it worth your time and effort.
  • Anonymous
    In my profession as a consultant in the leisure industry, my work these days is very much related to destination management. Many problems that I work on are dealing with the balance between people, planet and profit regarding tourism. In this respe…
  • Anonymous
    The topics and content of this course are very relevant and of high quality. I also believe that team assignments help with the further practical understanding of the theories presented in this course. However, the execution of the team assignment is rather difficult. If you start this course at a later stage it's hard to find fellow students to participate. Then you have to do all the assignments by yourself and this is very time consuming for one person. But your succeeding grade depends on these practical assignments.
  • Anonymous
    The course in general is good, but it lacks flexibility, as the participant is obliged to work in a team to form the vision, and participation is supposed to be open and according to the desire of the participant, as he is the one who decides whether he wants the vision personally or through a team.
    Because there are circumstances that hinder the participant from joining a team.
    Especially since the subscriber has useful ideas and vision for the program.
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