MGT1000 Fundamentals of Tourism Level 4 Module Guide 2025/26 | University of Sunderland

Introduction

Welcome to MGT1000 Fundamentals of Tourism

Explore the dynamic worlds of tourism, hospitality, and aviation while developing essential academic and professional skills. This module provides a broad introduction to key industry concepts, including sustainable tourism, niche markets, and the challenges shaping global travel. You'll examine tourist motivations, supply and demand dynamics, and the historical and geographical evolution of tourism, all while honing your research, writing, and presentation skills.

What You Will Learn

• Core principles of tourism, hospitality, and aviation, including sustainability and emerging trends
• Tourist behaviour, industry challenges, and supply-demand relationships
• Research techniques using libraries and online databases
• Academic writing, critical reading, and effective communication skills
• Time management, teamwork strategies, and professional presentation techniques

How This Module Prepares You for Your Career

By combining industry knowledge with essential academic and professional skills, this module builds a strong foundation for careers in tourism, hospitality, and aviation. You'll develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills—key assets for success in this fast-evolving industry. Plus, the module content stays updated with the latest trends, ensuring you stay ahead in your field.

Module Information

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

1. Discuss key concepts, characteristics, and conditions of the tourism, hospitality, and aviation industries.
2. Explain tourism, hospitality, and aviation products and services in relation to industry trends and issues.
3. Demonstrate service sector information effectively, using appropriate tools, methods, and academic frameworks.
4. Understand the importance of reflective practice in evaluating personal skills and planning for professional development.

Content Synopsis

This module integrates the study of tourism, hospitality, and aviation, including sustainable practices, niche tourism, and industry challenges. They will examine key concepts such as tourist motivations, supply and demand dynamics, sustainability, and the historical and geographical evolution of tourism. In addition, the module focuses on building academic competencies and employability skills. Students will learn how to research effectively using libraries and online databases, develop critical reading and writing skills, and academic writing. Presentation techniques, referencing, time management, and strategies for effective group work are also covered. Students will also engage in activities that enhance their teamwork, problem-solving, and communication skills, which are essential for future professional roles in the tourism industry. 
 
By combining theoretical knowledge with practical skill-building, the module provides a comprehensive foundation for understanding the tourism, hospitality, and aviation industries while equipping students with tools for learning and success.

Teaching and Learning Methods

Class Schedule

Please Check your Online Timetable:

Canvas and Online Support

Canvas is a web-based learning environment hosted by the University of Sunderland which is used to disseminate teaching materials, guides, handouts and information about the module and the assessment as well as assessment submission/s. It also provides a link to your library reading list. Canvas is updated throughout the module delivery. Therefore, Canvas is an essential portal for your module information, and it is important to check for updates on a regular basis.

Assessment

ASSIGNMENT 001

PRESENTATION: Key Tourism Concepts | 2,000 WORDS EQUIVALENT (+/-10%) | 70% of overall module grade

Students will create an individual digital presentation that demonstrates their understanding of key tourism concepts. The presentation may take the form of a slideshow, infographic, poster, case study, or video. This will test learning outcomes 1, 2, and 3. Word count for guidance only.

Deadline: Tuesday 25th November 2025 at 2pm (ONLINE via Canvas)
Provisional marks and feedback are released within four working weeks of your submission

ASSIGNMENT 002

COURSEWORK: Employability and Skills Reflection Report | 1,000 WORDS (+/-10%) | 30% of overall module grade

Students will complete a reflective written report on their employability skills, encouraging self-assessment and professional development planning. This assessment assesses Learning Outcomes 3 and 4. Word count for guidance only.

Deadline: Tuesday 13th January 2026 at 2pm (ONLINE via Canvas)
Provisional marks and feedback are released within four working weeks of your submission

It is important to adhere to the prescribed word count limit to avoid any penalties. Your word count excludes table of title page, table of content, any appendices and reference list/bibliography. The word count must be stated at the bottom of your title page.
Please note falsifying the word count is classed as an academic misconduct. 

Submission

You need to submit one electronic copy via Canvas using Turnitin. Make sure that all your parts are submitted in one document. Guidance will be provided in class for presentation assignment submissions.

Turnitin is a piece of software that checks work submitted by students against web-based sources for originality. Work is also checked for originality against other student submissions. You will receive an induction as to the use of Turnitin; if you do not, please contact your programme leader. The following rules apply to all students studying on all programmes:

1. All students are required to submit assessed work through Turnitin
2. The penalty for students who do not submit their assessed work through Turnitin is that their mark is withheld, and the assessment board may deem the work to have failed

Assessment Regulations

THE COURSEWORK MUST BE HANDED IN BY THE STATED DEADLINE:
Any work that is handed in after the deadline with no mitigating circumstances will, in accordance with university regulations, be awarded zero. If for any reason you are unable to complete the coursework on time, please contact the module leader in advance of the submission date. We shall treat genuine cases sympathetically, however, it is important to obtain and submit written evidence of any illness. Module leaders have the discretion to give a maximum of 72 hours extension. Please contact your module leader if you have any problems submitting your assignment in time!

Extenuating Circumstances:

The University has a procedure to deal with events which affect your work, but which are not predictable and are beyond your control, for example, illness, either by short term extension or by other measures such as deferral of a piece of work (allowing you to submit it at a later assessment point).

Important Note:

You should note that the policy (like that of many universities) takes the view that by sitting an examination or handing in an assessment, a student has deemed her/himself fit, and no subsequent claim for extenuating circumstances will be considered (FIT TO SIT POLICY). Your Faculty will publish deadlines for the submission of such claims prior to the assessment and it is important that you are aware that such claims must be made by the deadline, as after it has passed a claim will not be considered unless there are very exceptional circumstances. Each case is considered individually. Please bear in mind that if you know you will be absent from classes for any length of time you should inform your module and programme leader.

SUBMITTING WORK: You should take very important note of the emphasis placed in the Regulations upon the importance of you submitting work.

FAILURE TO SUBMIT work can mean that you are not able to pass a module you might have otherwise passed, that you are not eligible at the end of the year for good performance in modules to compensate poorer performance, and that you are not able to trail one failed module into the next year. The result of this might mean that you must change to part-time study to catch-up with a module that you have not passed.

PASSING A MODULE: At all stages, you need to achieve 40% overall to pass a module. If you FAIL TO SUBMIT, even just one element, you WILL NOT be able to pass the module.

Academic Integrity and Misconduct

Any work that you submit is expected to be your own work. Plagiarism, collusion, cheating in exams, and other misconduct is absolutely forbidden and has consequences.

Plagiarism consists in the unacknowledged copying of passages from the work of others, even if paraphrased by altering occasional words or phrases. This applies to work of any kind, including books, articles, encyclopaedias, student essays, newspapers, websites or any other sources, whether in written, printed or electronic form. Presenting other people’s work as your own is dishonest and could mean that you have obtained your class of degree by deceitful means. Quite apart from this, however, plagiarism can mislead your lecturers as to your real qualities and abilities, which will undermine the value of the advice they give to you and hinder your own intellectual development. To ensure that you cannot be accused of plagiarisms place all quotes from other works within quotation marks and reference them. If you are uncertain as to what constitutes plagiarism or how to deal with the problem, come and see me.

Plagiarism falls under the University Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy. The University publishes guidance on how to properly reference your work, and how to avoid plagiarism (“the unacknowledged insertion into a student’s work of material taken from the work, published or unpublished, of another person”) in Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct – A Guide. You should read this carefully to ensure that you understand what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it.

Where the University suspects that a student has plagiarised work, or where it is suspected that a student has cheated or otherwise infringed the University’s assessment regulations, the case is dealt with under the Academic Misconduct Regulations.
Depending on the severity of the case, this may be dealt with by a module leader, or may go to a Faculty Academic Misconduct Panel, which determines whether an infringement has taken place, and recommends a penalty to the Assessment Board. Penalties can include failure of the assessment, having to repeat the module, or in serious cases of academic misconduct, being withdrawn from the University.

Marking Process, Feedback, Returning of Work and Results

Marking, Feedback and Returning of Work

Your assignment(s) are marked based on the University Generic Assessment Criteria (a copy is at the end of this document). Feedback is provided based on the generic assessment criteria and put into the context of your specific assignment(s). After your submission(s), assessments are marked by your module leader and then internally moderated by a member of staff from the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Department. All student work is reviewed by an external examiner (see Guidance on External Examiner) and then your marks are presented to the Academic Board. Marks that have been confirmed by the Academic Board are accessible through e:Vision a week after the board sits.

Results

Your module results will be available to view on E-Vision at the end of each Semester after your work has been marked, internally moderated, externally moderated and your marks verified by an academic board. You will be notified of the date you can access your results via your university email account later in the Semester. You can access your results on http://evision.sunderland.ac.uk/ Guidance on how to do this will be emailed to your university email account. If you see an ‘R’, ‘RX’, ‘RM’ or ‘D’, under mark grade on the transcript of results this tells you that you are referred/deferred, and you will therefore need to repeat the assessment.

Referral

If you fail a module, you will be referred (that is, must retake the assessment) in those elements which you did not pass. When you take your referrals, your mark for those elements retaken is capped at 40%, whatever you achieve. Your overall module mark is calculated as normal by averaging all assessments, those passed first time and those referred, according to whatever weighting they have been given. If you fail assessments for a second time, you must repeat the module with attendance, that is, take it again from scratch attending all the teaching and sitting all the assessments, regardless of whether you passed any or not the first time around. No marks are carried forward, and your overall module mark is capped at 40%.

Referred/Deferred Coursework

If you are referred or deferred in any element of a module, you will be able to access the relevant piece of referred/deferred coursework via your Canvas on the same date as your results are released. You will be emailed guidance of how to do this. If you are referred or deferred in an examination, the examination timetable will be published on http://my.sunderland.ac.uk/ Please ensure that you check the examination timetable on MySunderland on a regular basis as this will be subject to change. Please contact the module leader if you have any questions or require any further guidance in relation to your referred/deferred assessments.

Academic Regulations

Academic regulations govern how undergraduate and postgraduate taught students are assessed, progressed between stages, and given awards.

Student Complaints - this process exists for complaints by students about services provided by the University. You should always raise any issue of complaint informally at a local level as soon as possible, and you will receive a response which most of the time will resolve your complaint. If you are still not happy with the response and any proposed solution, you can take your complaint further through the formal Student Complaints Procedure. Please contact Academic Services, 2nd Floor, and Edinburgh Building. Tel: 0191 5152941 for advice on the process, or the Students' Union for advice on the process and advocacy and support.

Academic Appeals - if you wish to challenge an assessment decision (for example, award, module results, and progression and withdrawal), you should refer to the Academic Appeals Procedure. Please note you must demonstrate grounds for appeal as defined in the procedure, disagreement with academic judgment (for example, simply considering that you think you should have got a higher mark) is not sufficient grounds for appeal.

Student Discipline - all students give an undertaking at enrolment to abide by the rules and regulations of the University, including those relating to conduct and discipline. The student disciplinary regulations outline what the University considers to be unacceptable behaviour on the part of students, and the processes which exist for dealing with it. Students who face allegations of misconduct may obtain advice and support from the Students' Union.

External examiners are experienced academic staff from other universities (sometimes supported by professional experts also acting as examiners), who are appointed by the University. Some external examiners are responsible for oversight of modules, some for oversight of programmes, and some cover both. Every award of the University which is a nationally recognised award must have an external examiner. Their duties are to advise the University on the comparability of academic standards of the award with those in other universities and to ensure that the assessment process is fair and is operated in a fair and equitable way. This guide explains more and tells you who is examiner for your programme and allows you to view their reports and Faculty responses. (NB: as indicated in the Quality Assurance Agency's Quality Code on External Examining, it is not appropriate for any student to attempt to contact one of the University's External Examiners directly. If students have issues of concern, please raise them through the normal processes of feedback, discussion with staff or your student representative, Student-Staff Liaison Committee, or if necessary, the Student Complaints Procedure or Academic Appeals Procedure).
15Library Reading List

Your module reading list can be accessed directly through the module’s “Library Reading Lists” site, either directly through the Canvas module or the library website.

Assignment Support through Library Services

Referencing 

You will find information on how to reference using the Harvard style on Cite them right online. There is a link on the library home page, or you can access directly . If you are on-campus you will be logged into Cite them right online automatically. If you are off campus you will need to login with your University User ID and password.

All University of Sunderland Library Services and links highlighted can be accessed easily through the main library web pages at

Library Registration
You are automatically registered with the library once you have registered for and enrolled on your programme. You will need to activate your IT Account by resetting your University Password in Selfcare. You can access Selfcare via my.sunderland.ac.uk 

Your Campus Card

You will need your campus card to borrow library books and to use the library during self service times.

Electronic Resources

You have access to a range of e-resources including electronic journals, online databases, and e-books.

Library Opening Times

The libraries are accessible during extensive opening hours and in core teaching weeks and both Murray and St Peter’s libraries have provision for additional unstaffed access. The latest opening hours can be found on the library website. Find out more about staffed service hours, vacation opening times, and access during self-service opening hours at library.sunderland.ac.uk/about-us/opening-hours/

Learning Spaces in the Library
At Murray and St Peter’s libraries we have a variety of learning spaces to suit your needs and mood. Choose from social, quiet, or silent; bookable spaces for group work; computer clusters.

Visiting Other Libraries
We have a number of reciprocal agreements with other UK libraries to allow you to visit or borrow from their collections. Find out more and register for the SCONUL Access Scheme at library.sunderland.ac.uk/services-and-support/visiting-other-libraries/

MGT1000 Generic Assessment Criteria - Undergraduate 

These should be interpreted according to the level at which you are working