Tourism

KS5 Intent:

 

Year 12

 

The UK Tourism Product: we start off looking at the motivational factors for people wanting to travel. Firstly, we reflect on students’ previous experience of travel and the reasons behind it.  Various reasons can include leisure, VFR, business, adventure, culture, religion and gastro experiences.  Moving on from this, students then look at the range of built and natural attractions within these areas and how some attractions have changed over time, for example Conway castle. To provide context, students investigate various case studies within the UK including national parks (with named examples of specific places to visit/stay within these areas), coastal resorts such as Blackpool and how they have developed over time (Butler Model) and strategic plans for their survival, city breaks and their named examples.  Liverpool is studied as a tourism destination for both inbound and domestic tourists.  Opportunities arise for the students to explore first-hand the tourism provision within their city and evaluate tourism provisions in places such as TIC’s, museums, and guided tours for example the Liver Building, also enhancing their cultural capital.  Transport is a key part of the travel and tourism industry so in the next section we evaluate how tourists get to and around their destinations, comparing and contrasting various modes of transport, again reflecting on students’ past experiences and linking back to the needs of tourists.  Accommodation providers are studied ranging from major hotel chains to camp sites.  Facilities at each type are assessed and links to visitor types and requirements are made so that knowledge and understanding is recalled and built upon.  Types of employment opportunities are studied within the tourism industry, directly and indirectly.  Students look at the types of qualifications and qualities needed within these roles enhancing their knowledge about career pathways and creating an ambitious attitude amongst students.  There are different types of organisations within the tourism industry which students then study – private, public and voluntary sectors and the interrelationships between them, each plays a vital role within the industry and for the UK economy.  This then leads on to how destinations are both managed and marketed. Campaigns from all of the previous sectors are discussed are evaluated and management strategies are studied in terms of sustainable tourism to ensure the future of our planet. Throughout each section students look at past, current and future trends in the UK tourism industry.  All these aspects are the foundations for, and can be applied to, other units within the course so that students have the underpinning knowledge and understanding to succeed in later sections as well.

The Dynamic Tourism Industry – studied alongside the UK Tourism Product in Year 12 with a second teacher.  The tourism industry is forever changing due to multiple reasons.  In this section external pressures upon all aspects of the industry are investigated. In this dynamic world environmental, economic and political pressures are studied as to how they impact upon the tourism industry – making links with the UK unit as well.  Using examples such as the recent floods that the UK has experienced during the winter, disease (e.g. Covid-19), terrorism and changes in the airline industry help to engage students in understanding how recent and current issues impact significantly upon travel and tourism both directly and indirectly.  The changing needs of customers in the industry over the past 25 years has shaped various sectors to it being what we know today and these have come from changes in lifestyle including flexible working, more disposable income, the desire for different types of holidays – all of these are important to the industry and also provide synoptic links across to the UK Tourism Product Unit. This leads on to studying how technological changes have changed the industry dramatically; the way in which holidays can be booked using the www, online checking in and ticketless travel are all examples that students can relate to from their previous experiences.  Here they can share their encounters with modern day travel compared to the traditional high street bookings of yesteryear and build upon their cultural capital.  Transport developments including aviation and the proposals such as HS2 and the impacts they have on the economy, lifestyle and the environment are studied to provide context for understanding the industry.  This leads on to looking at the management strategies the industry has to have to help protect our world, currently a much discussed topic globally.  From education to sustainability, students look at the response to environmental issues within the industry, the stakeholders involved and sensitive area management.  Finally, global tourism issues are considered such as terrorism, globalisation and pandemics. All of these will have and are having massive effects on tourism so students will examine these then describe how these situations can be managed effectively to protect us, our world and the tourism industry – bringing together an in-depth understanding of the tourism industry, its importance and its future.

Year 13:

 

Worldwide tourism destinations: work in Year 13 builds upon previous topics studied in Year 12 and is again taught in two discreet sections with two teachers.  The work in Year 13 is all coursework/controlled assessment based and therefore requires a different approach during the assessment stages to other units of work.  Students study worldwide destinations, applying their knowledge of the industry from Year 12 onto the ever-changing tourism industry. Using case studies such as New York, Venice and Cyprus (these are not exclusive) students gather evidence about the appeal of such destinations to both domestic and inbound travellers.  Firstly, the types of visitors that are attracted to these differing destinations are studied, including business, leisure, VFR, culture vultures as some examples.  A range of built and natural attractions are then researched linking back to the visitor types, including accommodation providers.  With this in mind, students will the look at ease of accessibility of such attractions.  It is vital that transport options both to and around destinations are discussed, linking to visitor types and advantages over other transport modes.  Students base this around their own prior knowledge of travelling and unit 1 work and importantly looking at recent improvements and technological changes within this sector.  Throughout Year 13 students will need to keep up to date with current changes in the tourism industry and the effects it has on destinations, employment, economy and the environment expanding their knowledge on this ever-changing planet.  Putting into action what was learnt in Year 12, students will put into place a marketing plan for their destinations. Creative marketing is a key part of destination management and here students will plan and produce a marketing campaign for a long-haul destination giving justifications for their choices.

Event and Itinerary Planning: In this unit, students put into practice their prior learning from previous units following on from managing destinations, marketing and tourist types and appeal.  Firstly, business planning is studied, looking at events, their purpose, target markets, marketing and budgets, preparing students for the world of work in the tourism industry – an ambitious entitlement we aim to provide.  An event is then planned and delivered by the students, such as organizing a trip to Chester Zoo for other students incorporating workshops at the zoo on marketing and conservation.  The event is then evaluated by all concerned, as they would in any business organization.  Using quantitative and qualitative data, feedback and observation students then go on to assess the success of their event.  Following on from this the UK tourism industry is revisited describing the types and characteristics of UK inbound and domestic tourists.  In particular looking at tourists from Canada and another inbound destination visiting the UK, comparing data with another overseas destination.  Looking at examples from VisitScotland, a public sector organization, the theory and planning of UK tour itineraries are assessed, looking at different customer needs – again linking back to prior learning. Key concepts such as the multiplier effect and the Butler model are taken into consideration and culminates in students producing and presenting an itinerary for a tour of the UK, with clear justifications for their choices and further evaluations of the decisions they take.

Throughout this whole course opportunities are taken to enlighten pupils about the work in which they live – building up their cultural capital and providing them with an excellent foundation for the world or work or future study beyond St. Julie’s.

Implementation:

 

Year

Term

Topic

Knowledge, skills and understanding

12

1-3

UK Tourism Product

Students will:

Gain in-depth knowledge and understanding about the tourism industry in the UK by focusing on what the UK offers to inbound and domestic tourists; and what the industry offers the UK in terms of employment opportunities.

Focus on four key areas for the acquisition of knowledge and understanding:

  1. Understanding the types of tourists
  2. Knowing about UK tourism destinations
  3. Understanding employment options within the UK tourism industry
  4. Understanding how to manage UK tourism destinations

Develop and embed skills focused on: increasing numerical competency with research and analysis of employment trends and data; thinking critically by evaluating a wide range of employment opportunities available within the industry.

 

1-3

The Dynamic Tourism Industry

Students will:

Gain in-depth knowledge and understanding about the tourism industry in the UK and how it is ever-changing; having to adapt quickly to external pressures and changes in society at the national and global scale. 

Focus on four key areas for acquisition of knowledge and understanding:

  1. Understanding the range of external pressures and changing customer needs and expectations
  2. Understanding recent developments in transport and technology within the global tourism industry
  3. Understanding how increased environmental awareness has affected the global tourism industry
  4. Understanding current issues facing the tourism industry

Develop and embed skills focused on: thinking critically by understanding how the global tourism industry has embraced new information and communication technology to revolutionise travel; evaluating how the tourism industry has developed strategies to deal with climate change and how important attractions and destination are managed.

13

1-3

Worldwide Tourism Destinations

Students will:

Complete a range of teacher-led research exercises before completing formal written assignments to write up research completed and demonstrate the acquired knowledge and understanding in ‘controlled conditions’ as a form of coursework.

Gain in-depth knowledge and understanding relating to: all tourism destinations having a range of attractions and facilities; understanding that destinations acquire an image and reputation that affects the types of tourism to whom they appeal.  Three key areas will be focused on and addressed through the completion of related tasks:

  1. Understanding the motivation for travel
  2. Understanding the range and appeal of worldwide tourism destinations
  3. Plan marketing campaigns for tourism destinations

Develop and embed skills focused on: creativity and innovation through designing and producing presentation materials; evaluating how people travel to and within tourism destinations; planning and developing a marketing campaign for a tourism destination; data analysis to support work completed.

 

1-3

Event and Itinerary Planning

Students will:

Complete a range of teacher-led research exercises before completing formal written assignments to write up research completed and demonstrate the acquire knowledge and understanding in ‘controlled conditions’ as a form of coursework.

Gain in-depth knowledge and understanding about the processes involved in event management and the functional nature of tour itineraries within the UK.

Focus on three key areas to enable the completion of tasks set to assess the learning taking place:

  1. Understanding the process of planning tourism events
  2. Understanding the nature of UK inbound and domestic tourism
  3. Be able to develop itineraries for UK tours

Develop and embed skills focused on: thinking critically about and assessing the business elements which are involved in event and itinerary planning; planning and organising and tourism event; developing creativity by presenting an individually researched and planned UK tour.