Tourism Management

Degree Type: 

Doctor of Philosophy

Department: 

Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Modes of Study: 

Regular

About Programme: 

 

  • The Ph.D programme is expected to give practical meaning to the hands on training in Tourism. A substantial amount of time and resources is devoted to field studies and seminars in order to strengthen these components of the programme, especially at this level where students have to demonstrate the capacity to undertake independent work.

    The Department encourages interdisciplinary work and many research projects cover such areas as Tourism Administration and Management, Eco Tourism, Tourism Marketing, Event Tourism, Hospitality Administration and Management, Service Quality issues, Human Resource Management, Tourism Safety and Security, Leisure and Disability, Tourist Behaviour, and other related areas.

     

    Objectives

    The objectives of the programme is in consonance with those of the International Geographic Union (1992), which are to:

    Assist students to understand and respect all peoples, their cultures, values and their ways of life; Empower students to develop an affinity for and understanding of the increasing global inter-dependence of peoples and cultures; Develop in students skills and attitudes that will enable them participate in solving the problems of their communities, their countries and the world at large; Introduce students to relevant skills that will be useful to them in their daily lives as well as become aware of the international and environmental impacts of their decisions; Enable students adapt knowledge gained in decision-making roles in society which require local, national and international perspectives and competence; Enable students achieve personal and professional growth within geographic education; and Enable students to acquire skills and perspectives for life-long learning.

Entry Requirements: 

Candidates applying for the programme must have at least an M.Phil or M A (research) degree in Tourism and Hospitality or related disciplines.

Programme Structure          

Students admitted into the programme would within the first eight months prepare a proposal and defend it at a departmental forum. If the proposal is accepted, the students are given supervisors to work with for the next ten (10) months within which they have to submit at least three chapters of the work for assessment by a panel of examiners drawn from the Department including the supervisors (Table 1). The panel will submit a written report on the quality and relevance of each including recommendations to the Departmental Examiners’ Committee. The Committee studies the recommendations and submits a report on each one of them through the Head of Department and Dean to the Graduate Board indicating whether the students should progress or withdraw from the programme.

Students who successfully complete the first phase are invited to continue to write up their theses for examination. This should cover the rest of the 18 months. Notwithstanding the information above, all Ph.D students are expected to present at least three seminar papers before completing their study. These should cover issues from the field work, summary of the study findings and thirdly a presentation on a topic of the student’s own choice but outside the thesis.

In the course of the research, a student could be asked to audit M.Phil or even undergraduate courses if they are deemed by the supervisors to be relevant to his/her study.

Career Opportunities: 

The aim of the Ph.D programme, like the other programmes offered by the Department, is to provide students with the necessary tools to think critically and analytically as well as function independently in the competitive global world.