The Sustainable Tourism Management Master’s Programme is jointly offered by the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Landscape Use and Nature Conservation. Following the principles of sustainable development our programme is interdisciplinary and combines economics with environmental and social sciences. It was officially accredited in 2004.

Our Master’s programme is suitable primarily for applicants with a degree in planning, natural or landscape-oriented sciences as well as in economic and social sciences with an interdisciplinary orientation. Applicants with other degrees may be admitted after an individual assessment. The maximum number of students is 40 per semester.

The programme normally requires full-time studies and can be completed in four semesters (two years). The first two semesters consist of lectures, seminars and small projects. The third semester is entirely dedicated to an internship in combination with a more extensive project. This is followed by the Master’s thesis in the fourth semester. For students who have to work while they study part-time solutions are possible. They can “stretch” their study programme to a maximum of eight semesters. On the other hand, applicants with practical experiences in sustainable tourism management may accomplish the programme in only three semesters by skipping the internship.

The curriculum: The subject courses “Tourism, the Environment and Society” and “Tourism Economics” provide basic knowledge about sustainable tourism. In “Sustainable Destination Management”, "Sustainable Business Management" and “Ecotourism and Protected Area Management” you will learn how to combine economic, environmental and social aspects into an integrated management approach. “Marketing” as one of the most important tools of successful tourism development is another focus of our programme. Through the subject courses “Communication in Tourism” and “Tourism Information Technologies” you will gain more specialised skills which are nevertheless indispensable in modern tourism. At the end of the second semester we offer different elective modules (such as “Tourism in Developing Countries” and “Cultural Tourism”) which you may choose according to your specific personal interests.

Form the start and throughout the programme we attach great importance to practical experiences and a hands-on approach. For this we have an extensive network of partners in the tourism industry and related fields at our disposal, both in Germany and abroad. Our programme is bilingual (German and English).

The curriculum