Economics of Tourism

Course Coordinator: Florence Gan, BEcon (Hons) (UUM), MEcon (La Trobe, Australia), GDBMR (UniSA), LLB (Hons) (MMU, UK), LLM (HKU)

This is a five-credit course in the Master of Arts in Cultural and Heritage Tourism programme. Running through the course are a number of themes centered around the economic analysis of the tourism industry and the impacts of tourism on economic growth and development.

Aims
The course aims to use economics theories and perspectives to analyse issues related to tourism at both micro and macro levels. The course will equip students with the major concepts and theories of tourism economics and demonstrate the application of said concepts and theories to the analysis of issues such as the demand and supply of tourism, the impact of tourism on economic growth and development, and the role of government in promoting tourism.

Contents
The course covers the following topics:

• Demand and supply of tourism services

• Structure of the tourism industry

• Impact of tourism on economic growth and development

• The costs and benefits of tourism to the host country

• Sustainable tourism

• The political economy of tourism

Contact hours
Normally three hours per week.

Assessment
There will be one assignment, one group presentation and a final examination. Students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).