Bachelor of Science Tourism

During your studies, you will work in an international but small-scale learning community. Learning is an active and social process. Besides lectures, you work together with your fellow students in research projects on current issues with a focus on sustainable tourism development. Just think of the responsible expansion of an international airport or the development of tourism in the Biesbosch nature reserve. Excursions, fieldwork and guest lectures will show you how things work in practice.   

During your studies, you will gradually gain more independence as the programme progresses. This means that educational support in our learning community is most intensive in the first year and gradually decreases over the next two years. In the online study guide you will find details on the teaching methods and testing for each subject. 

Study load 
The BSc Tourism is a full-time study programme with a study load of 38 to 40 hours per week. Of these, 15 to 18 hours per week are contact hours. You will spend the remaining time on independent study.   

The year consists of four terms. In each term, you will take three courses. Each course is timetabled on a fixed day of the week. In practice, this means that you attend education on campus three days a week. 

You can view the annual calendar and timetables for first- and second-year students on this page.  

A typical week

Monday

• 15.00 - 18.00 Preparation for this week’s courses (reading articles)

Tuesday

• 11.00- 12.00 Lecture on the History of the European Union
• 12.20- 13.00 Lecture on Governance Reform
• 13.00- 13.45 Lunch break
• 13.45- 14.00 Presentation of classmates on their group work
• 14.00- 14.45 Workshop given by classmates on their group assignment
• 14.45- 16.00 Working on your individual task for the group project

Wednesday

• 11.00- 13.30 Lecture on Descriptive Statistics
• 13.30 – 14.00 Lunch break
• 14.00- 15.00 Tutorial on the R Studio assignment
• 15.00- 16.00 Time to work on R studio

Thursday

• 11.00- 12.00 Feedback on last week’s assignment 
• 12.00- 13.00 Lunch break
• 13.00- 14.00 Lecture on Interpretive Phenomenological analysis (IPA)
• 14.00- 15:00 Workshop on Interpretive Phenomenological analysis (IPA) 

Friday

• 11.00- 11.30 Handing in notes/questions about an article for the group assignment
• 14.00- 16.00 Working on group assignment

Coaching 
Throughout the programme, you will receive specialist guidance from experienced lecturers from both BUas and WUR.  Student Advisor Cristina is the first point of contact for all students. She can assist you with decision-making, overcoming study challenges, or addressing other issues. If needed, she will refer you to a student counsellor or a student psychologist.   

During your studies, you can also to attend optional masterclasses given by educational psychologist and motivational speaker Dr Martijn van der Spoel. In these inspiring lectures, he discusses common study obstacles and the skills and tools to overcome them. For example, study delays, motivation problems and how to focus on your studies. 

Student well-being
BUas encourages and helps you to make the most of yourself, whatever your circumstances. Maybe you have a chronic illness, are a family carer, a competitive athlete, or juggle your studies with running your own business? Our study coaches, student counsellors and student psychologists are here to help. Do you need extra support or advice? Or extra facilities? Then take a look at the options here.

Excursions 
In the first year, there are several excursions, for example for the Tourism Principles and Practice course in the first semester, and for the Tourism Geography module in the second semester. There is also a ‘WUR Day’ where you get to know Wageningen and its campus. 

Fieldwork 
At BUas, study trips are called fieldwork. This means working in practice; not only studying theory in the classroom, but also applying your academic skills in challenging projects at the destination together with local organisations and communities. Learning by carrying out fieldwork in a cross-cultural environment is an indispensable experience and very valuable for your personal development and creativity.  

At the end of the first year, you will go on fieldwork for one week as part of the National Field Project course. In small groups, you will carry out a quantitative research project. The topic of this project is based on the current research agenda of the teaching team, and focuses on a specific aspect of tourism behaviour, such as media consumption, spending patterns, overtourism or happiness and well-being. 

There are also a number of excursions in the second year. And in the final term, you will undertake a four-week fieldwork project in a European destination (International Field Project). Together with your fellow students, you make a plan, and ‘slow travel’ to the destination. Once there, you will research whether and how tourism at the destination can contribute to a better quality of life. You will present your research findings to interested parties at the destination and suggest possible solutions. In this process, you will apply the knowledge and skills you have gained in previous semesters, particularly in the courses of Tourism Systems Analysis, Impactful Tourism Interventions and Cross Cultural Studies. Read more about Naomi's experience during her International Field Project here! 

Why fieldwork, excursions and company visits?  

• Learning in practice makes learning more personal and meaningful by helping you connect learning to your own life.   
• It stimulates your creativity by making you think about unique solutions to problems, ensuring a richer learning experience.   
• You also get the chance to reflect on your actions and their consequences, which helps you better understand and apply the concepts you have learned in different situations such as your placement or future job.  
• In addition, you will learn that making mistakes is an important part of the learning process and nothing to be afraid of.   
• Practical experience speeds up the learning process, because it strengthens the connections in your brain, which makes for faster and more effective learning.