Policies in Tourism

BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION
This subject will allow students to understand that tourism in 21st century will need the right Tourism Policy; such policy must be defined by a process of strong coordination and cooperation between the different government organizations, the public and private sectors and always taking into account the awareness of the local population towards tourism.
Tourism Policy exposes, from a social, economic and legal point of view, a highly practical vision of the relations between tourism activities and the intervention of government organizations within the tourism sector, so as to face problems and propose solutions.
This subject enables the student to understand the complexity of the current scenarios and adapt governance to decision-making at different territorial levels, contributing to develop the students personal and professional skills so they can later in life, contribute to developing public tourism management professionally. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the basic theories and concepts of political analysis.
2. Be aware of the public administrations involved in tourism, their functions and objectives.
3. Be familiar with other political-administrative structures that are involved in tourism activity, their functions and objectives.
4. Understand the tools and instruments for public intervention.
5. Consult the appropriate sources and media in which the decisions and regulations passed by tourism administrations are published.
6. Identify which authority in the tourism administration can resolve issues that arise over the course of the activity.
7. Understand the tourism policies related to the sustainable development of tourism activities.
8. Understand the general operation of the global tourism structure: its structure, functions, and role as a driver of development.

ACADEMIC CONTENTS
PART I: INTRODUCTION. POLITICS AND TOURISM 1
ECTS 1.
Tourism policy fundamentals and objectives
1.1. Tourism policy in the framework of economic policy: an approach
1.2. Justification of public sector intervention in tourism. Different levels of intervention
1.3. General objectives and strategies of economic tourism policies
1.4. Globalization and public strategies
1.5. Tourist organizations, needs and purposes
PART II: NATIONAL TOURISM POLICIES
1 ECTS
2.Spanish tourism policy 2.1. Brief historical approach from a critical perspective
2.2. Tourism policy as an instrument of foreign policy and economic policy
2.3. Key issues for Spanish tourism: competence framework, competitiveness, sustainability...
3. Tourism policy in Catalonia 3.1. Origins and background: the pre-autonomous period
3.2. The tourism policy of the Generalitat de Catalunya: the new Decree on stage
3.3. The new challenges of Catalan tourism: the collaborative economy
4. Tourism policy in Barcelona
4.1. Brief history of Barcelona's tourism policy
4.2. Current challenges of tourism policy in Barcelona: special reference to “llars compartides” controversy
4.3. Strategic planning and governance of a tourist city
PART III: TOURISM IN THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL CONTEXT
3 ECTS
5. Tourism in the European area
5.1. Tourism in the European Union: specific treatment
5.2. EU and international cooperation
6. Tourism as an instrument of diplomacy
6.1. Health tourism: analysis of its global impact
6.2. Religious tourism: analysis of policies in Israel, Vatican City and Saudi Arabia.
6.3. Instrument for regional cooperation: the ASEAN case
7. Promotion as an instrument of tourism policy
7.1. Tourism as an instrument of political propaganda
7.2. Gastronomy: a growing instrument of soft diplomacy. Analysis of the main cases
7.3. Analysis of cases of multicultural adaptation of relevant actors
8. Tourism and the main threats
8.1. Tourism and terrorism
8.2. Tourism and citizen insecurity
8.3. Tourism management in contexts of uncertainty: the Mediterranean and its challenges
8.4. Tourism and health emergencies
9. Sustainable and responsible tourism: the cross-cutting impact of the SDGs.
9.1. The social dimension of tourism 9.2. Natural resources and tourism
9.3. Bad practices: an overview. The value of codes of ethics.
9.4. Climate change and its impact on the tourism sector.
10. New trends: special reference to the new post-COVID19 tourism reality
10.1. Emerging economies in the global tourism scenario
10.2. Resilience and tourism development.
10.3. Hub cities: links of tourist relevance
10.4. A new scenario: a new tourism? Possible future scenarios

LEARNING METHODOLOGY
The learning methodologies planned for the subject combine a number of processes being the most remarkable the cognitive methods related to the comprehension of the principles of tourism and the global tourism system as well as the inclusion of a set of skills, mainly technical.
The activities and methodologies -both group and individual- designed for this subject are the following:
• Lectures
• Case studies
• Guided discussions
• Practical exercises

ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
The assessment system measures the student’s achievement of learning outcomes regarding the subject’s competences and contents. Students may choose continuous assessment or single assessment:
Continuous Assessment: the teaching-learning process is assessed by a continuous monitoring of the work done by the students throughout the course and a final individual examination. Students must attend classes in order to be assessed by continuous assessment. Single Assessment: for those students who cannot come to class regularly, they can choose to be assessed by single assessment. The teaching-learning process is assessed by means of the assessment of all activities and in-person individual examination at the end of the course.
To qualify for this form of assessment, students must apply within the first 15 days of the start of the course through the assessment section of Virtual Campus.

The assessment activities planning will be public for the students from the start.
 

To pass the course, it is mandatory to have obtained a minimum final grade of "5", as long as the student has completed the individual exam/s or work/s established in the course.This exam/s or final work/s must be graded with a minimum of "4" in order to be able to calculate the average of all the assessment activities carried out during the course.

Revision and Reassessment of the Course
The student has the right to revise all the evidences that have been designed for the assessment of learning.
If a student fails to achieve the learning objectives of the course, in order to opt for the subject reassessment, it will be necessary to have obtained a final grade of the subject between "4-4.9", and to have attended the individual final exam/s or final work/s of the course.
The reassessment process will only involve the modification of the final grade in the case that the new assessment activity is passed and, in any case, the maximum grade will be "5". This grade will be averaged with the other grades of the assessment activities carried out by the student during the corresponding academic period, considering the percentages established in each subject, setting the final grade for the course.