The Tourism Society - People in all the right places

One of the first fifteen students to complete the new Postgraduate Certificate in Destination Management, awarded by Leeds Metropolitan University, has already gained a promotion as a result of taking the course.  The qualification has been developed to a brief from the Tourism Management Institute (TMI) and is delivered through a partnership of Leeds Metropolitan, Bournemouth and Lancaster Universities, with practitioner support from TMI and The Tourism Society.

Sarah Streeter, one of five students on the new course supported by funding from Tourism Skills Network South West, jumped at the chance to further her professional education, as she was about to be seconded to the South Devon Area Tourism Partnership, a new organisation tasked with marketing South Devon.

By the time Sarah had completed two modules and was heading towards the end of the third, she was promoted to Marketing Manager of Visit South Devon, and puts this down very largely to her employers recognising the value of the knowledge she’s acquired:  “This qualification has given me the knowledge I needed and given me more confidence in the workplace”

The course is part time by distance learning, so Sarah was studying at the same time as carrying on with her full time job, but she thinks this has benefits: “Although I sometimes found it a struggle to keep up with the reading, and assignments, when I did sit down to it, the content was so relevant to my day to day work that I not only found it interesting, but was able to apply some of the theory into my day to day work.”

Having successfully completed the Postgraduate Certificate, Sarah is now embarking on the Postgraduate Diploma and hopes to go on to complete the MSc:  "I see real professional and personal benefit – and it helps to know I will be one of the first in the country to be awarded this qualification.”

Ends
 
Notes to Editors:

The Postgraduate Certificate, Diploma and MSc in Destination Management have been developed by Leeds Metropolitan, Bournemouth and Lancaster Universities in response to a brief from the Tourism Management Institute.  The Certificate was launched in October 2008 with endorsement from People 1st, and the first cohort of destination management practitioners enrolled on the Certificate in January 2009.

The qualifications are awarded by Leeds Metropolitan University and delivered via X-Stream, an online learning environment.  Students are able to access the materials at any time, allowing maximum flexibility to fit study in and around work and family commitments.  Course material and assignments are specifically designed to be relevant to students’ place of work, enabling students and their employers to get maximum benefit from participation in the course.

Students may apply at any time, and courses normally start in September and January of each year.  The next intake will be in September 2010. 

Normal progression is from PG Certificate, to PG Diploma and on to MSc. Costs are £2250 for the Postgraduate Certificate, £2250 for the Post Graduate Diploma and £800 to complete the dissertation leading to the award of MSc.

Enquiries regarding applications should be addressed to the Course Administrator, Jessica Stacey:  j.stacey@leedsmet.ac.uk  Tel: 0113 812 6771

For an informal discussion, please contact either
Dr. Philip Long MTMI,
Course Leader:
p.e.long@leedsmet.ac.uk
Tel: 0113 812 8545

or

Dr. Cathy Guthrie, FTMI FTS
Tourism Society CPD Co-ordinator
cpd@tmi.org.uk
Tel: 01467 620769 Mob: 07802 679489

Details are also available on the Tourism Management Institute web site, www.tmi.org.uk, by links from the Tourism Society web site, www.tourismsociety.org, and on the individual partner university web sites.