Research on the Construction of the Required Courses for the Master of Tourism Management: A Case Study of Tourism Planning and Strategy ()
1. Introduction
The Master of Tourism Management (MTA for short), with professional code of 1254, is a kind of professional degree education in China. Nine core compulsory courses have been stipulated in the Guiding Training Plan for Postgraduates with Master’s Degree in Tourism Management (2011) formulated by China’s MTA Education Steering Committee, including Tourism Planning and Strategy (Table 1).
As a required course for the Master of Tourism Management, Tourism Planning and Strategy focuses on highlighting tourism planning and tourism strategy, generally including:
• New situation, new ideas, new ideas of tourism planning, and the latest trends of tourism planning introduction at home and abroad.
• The core principles and methods of tourism planning.
• Procedures and methods of tourism resource investigation and evaluation, tourism market analysis and positioning, tourism product planning and tourism project design, tourism image positioning and tourism market development.
• Conceptual planning, general tourism planning, detailed tourism planning and other cases of tourism planning in different depths.
• Analysis of different types of tourism planning cases, such as tourism development planning, tourism development planning, and special tourism planning.
2. Teaching Objectives of Tourism Planning and Strategy
The ultimate purpose of the course Tourism Planning and Strategy is to enable students to comprehensively understand the role and development trend of tourism planning, research hotspots and difficulties, types and levels of tourism planning, the purpose and significance of tourism planning, master the basic theory, main procedures, core technologies and operation methods of various tourism planning, and enhance the practical ability and management level of tourism planning through the teaching of this course (Ma, Yu, & Liu, 2019; Wang & Hu, 2004). The curriculum requires close combination of theory and practice, and strengthens teacher-student interaction through case analysis and thematic discussion to guide students to actively think and innovate. Through the clear design of teaching objectives, the training objectives and basic requirements in the Guiding Training Plan for Postgraduates of Master of Tourism Management can be well met (Table 2).
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Table 1. Core compulsory courses specified in the guiding training plan for postgraduates of the master of tourism management.
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Table 2. Training objectives and basic requirements in the guiding training plan for postgraduates of master of tourism management.
3. Key Points of the Teaching of Tourism Planning and Strategy
The Opinions of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China on Deeply Promoting the Reform of the Training Mode of Professional Degree Postgraduates clearly put forward that the training mode of professional degree research should be guided by professional needs, focused on the cultivation of practical ability, and taken the combination of industry and education as the way (Li, 2015). Therefore, the teaching mode of Tourism Planning and Strategy should be well carried out under the premise of enhancing students’ professional ability. The main contents are shown in Figure 1.
3.1. Overall Description of Professional Ability Demand and Teaching Objectives of Tourism Planning and Strategy
Starting from the professional degree, especially the “what kind of people need to be trained” of MTA, and starting from the professional ability and quality needs of the industry (enterprises) for professional degree graduates, the teaching objectives of Tourism Planning and Strategy should be elaborated, the curriculum framework should be built, and the top-level design should be done for the implementation of the curriculum. The outstanding elements of the teaching objectives of the course mainly include the concepts of tourism planning and strategy, the principles to be followed in the development and the characteristics of tourism planning.
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Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the key points in the teaching of tourism planning and strategy.
3.2. Organization and Development of Tourism Planning and Strategy Course Resource Package and Development Demonstration Course
Do a good job in the curriculum resource package of Tourism Planning and Strategy: curriculum outline, teaching plan (including PPT), teaching design, selected textbooks and reference materials, teaching organization form and students’ learning methods, curriculum assessment and teaching evaluation.
3.3. Writing the Teaching Case of Tourism Planning and Strategy
Case teaching is the feature of professional degrees, the core of MTA teaching, and the specific embodiment of the Opinions of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Deeply Promoting the Reform of the Training Mode of Professional Postgraduates, the Guiding Training Plan for Postgraduates of the Master’s Degree in Tourism Management (2011) issued by the National MTA Education Steering Committee. Case teaching is an organic way to promote practice and curriculum teaching, It is also an effective means to cultivate graduate students’ awareness and ability to solve practical problems. Therefore, typical teaching cases should be well written to lay a good foundation for promoting the case teaching of Tourism Planning and Strategy.
Specifically, according to the Basic Requirements and Writing Standards for MTA Teaching Cases formulated by the National MTA Education Steering Committee, and in combination with the characteristics of Tourism Planning and Strategy, we should compile cases, highlight the logical development of “phenomenon perspective—theoretical dialogue—practical enlightenment”, reflect the specific teaching value of this course, so as to trigger students to think and discuss, and deepen and consolidate theoretical knowledge in the process of case teaching, In case writing, sketch type or question prompt type will be adopted (Xu, 2019).
4. Key Teaching Contents of Tourism Planning and Strategy
Relevant curriculum construction should be carried out around the following seven key points of industry demand, mainly including:
• Overview of tourism planning, so that students can understand the origin of tourism planning, the role of tourism planning, the types of tourism planning, the situation, hot spots and dynamics of tourism planning, etc. The key and difficult points are the types of tourism planning and the frontier dynamics of tourism planning.
• The basic theory of tourism planning aims to enable students to understand the theories of tourism industry integration, tourism multi regulation and integration, tourism differential development, tourism regional linkage, experience economy and other theories, as well as the application countermeasures in tourism planning and development. The key and difficult point is the correct application of relevant theories in tourism planning and development.
• The classification and evaluation of tourism resources enable students to understand the classification system of tourism resources, master the methods of tourism resources investigation, classification, evaluation, and tourism resources development and protection. The key and difficult point is the classification and quantitative evaluation of tourism resources.
• Tourism market analysis and market positioning enable students to understand the content and significance of tourism market research, analysis and positioning, and master the procedures and methods of market research, market analysis and market positioning. The key and difficult points are the methods of tourism market positioning.
• The spatial layout and functional zoning of tourism planning enable students to understand the significance, theory and principle of spatial layout and functional zoning of tourism planning, master the procedures and technical points of spatial layout and functional zoning of tourism, and the key and difficult points are the methods of spatial layout and functional zoning of tourism.
• Tourism planning project design and product development enable students to understand the concept of tourism project design and tourism product development, understand the principles of tourism project design and tourism product development, and master the content and procedures of tourism project design and tourism product development. The key and difficult points are the content and methods of tourism project design and tourism product planning.
• Tourism image positioning and market development enable students to understand the concept of tourism image positioning, master the principles, procedures, contents and methods of tourism image positioning, and master the core theories and technical points of tourism market development. The key and difficult points are the contents and methods of tourism image positioning.
5. The Effective Improvement Path of the Teaching Design of Tourism Planning and Strategy
The teaching design of Tourism Planning and Strategy should fully reflect the relevant requirements of the “cultivation method” in the Guiding Training Plan for Postgraduates of the Master of Tourism Management (Table 3).
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Table 3. Requirements for “cultivation method” in the guiding training program for postgraduates of master of tourism management.
5.1. Promote the Effective Implementation of Design Ideas and Effects of Practical Teaching (and Case Teaching) Activities
In combination with the teaching content, it transmits some new theories, new ideas and development trends of tourism planning and development at home and abroad to students, so as to broaden their horizons and stimulate their thirst for knowledge (Guan & Lyu, 2011; Zhao, Zhao, & Wong, 2019); at the same time, we will lead students to have internships, field trips and other activities, mainly introducing tourism resources, designing tourism routes, conducting tourism market surveys, answering students’ questions and dealing with various relationships in the tourism process.
5.2. Give Full Play to the Role of Curriculum in Improving Students’ Quality Education
Give full play to the unique advantages of the curriculum, combine with the national development strategy guidance, scientifically integrate the ideological and political content of the curriculum in the course of teaching, and enhance the students’ sense of mission to apply what they have learned and serve the society, as well as good professional quality and patriotism.
6. Conclusion
To develop tourism, planning must go first, and development strategy is the top priority of planning. Tourism planning has strategic guiding significance. It clearly puts forward the direction, scale, speed and goals of tourism development, as well as the strategy to achieve the goals. It is the basis for tourism development. With the needs of tourism development, tourism planning and strategy involve the fundamental issues of long-term development, so it is very important to formulate a scientific and clear tourism development strategy, which can effectively promote the rapid, sustainable and healthy development of tourism. Therefore, it is necessary to do a better job in the construction of the curriculum of Tourism Planning and Strategy systematically and scientifically.
Funding
This research was funded by the Chifeng University Tourism and Cultural Industry Innovation Research Team Program (Cfxykycxtd202003), the Chifeng University Construction of First Class Disciplines and Master’s (MTA) Program.