Course Description
"Futuring for Tourism: How to Prepare for Disruptions and Create Resilient Destinations" is an innovative online course designed for tourism professionals seeking to navigate the rapidly changing landscape of the industry. This intermediate-level course, offered by WageningenX, equips learners with essential skills to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to future uncertainties in the tourism sector.
As a tourism professional, you'll dive deep into the art of "Futuring," a strategic approach to thinking about and planning for various future scenarios. This course is part of the Professional Certificate Programme "Tourism in Transition: Exploring a Sustainable Future," which also includes courses on sustainable tourism and the relationship between tourism and climate change.
What You Will Learn
- Explore diverse tourism futures, from mainstream to radical scenarios
- Identify needs for creating more resilient and regenerative destinations
- Understand systemic tendencies in responding to threats and opportunities
- Reflect on personal and organizational approaches to uncertain tourism futures
- Apply futuring techniques to make informed and creative decisions for future-proof travel
- Utilize back-casting to identify steps required for achieving desired outcomes
Prerequisites
While this course is open to all, it is particularly valuable for those with a background in social sciences or tourism/hospitality studies. For those new to the field, it's recommended to take TOUR01x or TOUR02X first to familiarize yourself with basic concepts used in this course.
Course Content
- Introduction to futuring methods and tools
- Analysis of diverse tourism future pathways
- Exploration of the current status quo in tourism
- Examination of complex systemic tendencies in the industry
- Strategies for transforming tourism towards sustainability
- Techniques for engaging with multiple perspectives and goals
- Identification of barriers and opportunities for change in tourism
Who Should Take This Course
- Tour operators
- Hotel managers and staff
- Airline professionals
- Destination Management Organizations (DMOs)
- Government officials working in tourism
- Travellers interested in the future of tourism
- Anyone passionate about sustainable tourism development
Real-World Applications
- Strategic planning for tourism businesses and destinations
- Developing resilient and sustainable tourism products
- Adapting to climate change impacts on tourism
- Creating innovative solutions for emerging tourism trends
- Improving decision-making processes in tourism organizations
- Enhancing the ability to anticipate and prepare for industry disruptions
- Contributing to policy development for sustainable tourism
Syllabus
Module 1: Future Tourism Pathways
- Course introduction and overview
- Introduction to futuring methods and tools
- Exploration of diverse tourism future scenarios
- Assignment: Identifying path dependencies in real-life cases
Module 2: Status Quo of Tourism
- Analysis of complex systemic tendencies in tourism
- Examination of dominant ideas and discourses
- Systematic analysis of the present tourism landscape
- Challenge taken-for-granted ideas and actions
Module 3: Transforming Tourism
- Engagement with multiple perspectives and goal dependencies
- Strategies for triggering change in the tourism industry
- Identification of barriers and opportunities for transformation
- Reflexive unpacking of envisioned actions towards a common tourism future
This course offers a unique opportunity for tourism professionals to develop critical skills in strategic futuring, preparing them to lead the industry towards a more sustainable and resilient future. By enrolling in "Futuring for Tourism: How to Prepare for Disruptions and Create Resilient Destinations," you'll gain the confidence and tools necessary to make informed decisions in an ever-changing tourism landscape.
