Local communities, nature and culture/history

Objective

The course is intended to develop a critical approach towards ideas and principles regarding sustainable resource management and the development of small communities – together with an understanding of nature and culture as resources within the field of tourism.

• North Norwegian cultural history, tradition and identity
• Nature, and the understanding of nature, as the basis of societies and human settlement
• Sustainable industries and lifestyles viewed from a historical perspective
• The ecological, ethical, legal and political basis for the utilization of natural and cultural resources in the fields of tourism and local community development
• The relationship between urban and rural settlement from a historical perspective
• Local communities and globalization – new challenges, new opportunities

Developing local communities and destinations

Objective

Students will be able to analyse a town or village, propose a profile and a list of products by priority, and prepare a strategic plan for the development of local tourism.

Content

• The product itself (local tourism as a whole) – understanding the product at a regional and local level
• The importance of " authenticity" in the development of tourism
• Local natural and cultural conditions, what authentic or manufactured products are available
• Product development – community profile, "image" and position
• Tourism and Ethics
• Various management regimes and techniques associated with nature and culture-based sustainable tourism
• Enterprise
• Strategic planning and product initiatives associated with the development of destinations
• Locally organized tourism: objectives, methods, different types of collaboration and network building
• Educational techniques and methodology – inter-cultural communication at a national and international level
• The development and dissemination of expertise.

Tourism-related Marketing and e-Commerce

Objective

The course of study will provide students with an introduction to tourism-related marketing with particular emphasis on electronic channels.

New methods of implementing trading transactions offer new opportunities to small businesses and local communities. Students will be given an insight into the challenges this gives rise to, and acquire skills required to meet them, while at the same time learning about the development and potential of e-commerce. Students will be required to produce a marketing plan for a chosen destination.

Content

• Consumer behaviour
• Segmentation in the tourist industry
• Local information, motivation and marketing
• Relational marketing and CRM
• Quality management in the tourist industry
• Profiling and trademark development in the tourist industry
• Internet marketing and sales – new growth potential for rural districts?
• Examples of the construction and development of web sites
• Integrated market planning – the utilization of local competitive advantages.

Method

Objective

Students will be given insight into, and knowledge of:

• how to plan, compose, and implement a good development project
• methodical demands made on the planning and implementation of a major written report
• demands made on the content of a good draft report / research draft.

• Planning, composing and implementing a development project
• Introduction to writing a paper, learning-by-doing and development work
• Selection and definition of a topic
• Various approaches in relation to topic and problem
• Demands made on problem definition
• Design
• Finding appropriate literature, assessing literature.