Programme:

Business & Tourism Management

Level:

Level 6

Module Title:

Destination Management

Module code:

BTM6DMA

Module leader/s:

Assignment No:

1

Assignment Type:

Essay

Assignment weighting %:

100%

Assignment Word Count: (or equivalent)

4000 words

Penalties

All penalties that are listed at the end of this document in the Table of Penalties.

Submission Dates and Times (Day: Date & Time)

Summative deadline

Late Submission

Resubmission 1 Deadline

Resubmission 2 Deadline

Grade & Feedback release Dates

All Grades and Feedback release dates are 21 days (about 3 weeks) after the submission date. If an assignment deadline is @ 2:00pm then the grade release date will be @ 2:00pm

This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes:

Module Learning Outcome 1

Analyse and assess the importance of destination management.

Module Learning Outcome 2

Utilise and apply relevant destination development models in a variety of international and regional tourism settings.

Module Learning Outcome 3

Critically assess the role of Destination Management Organisations (DMO`s) in managing the destinations resources and destination development.

Module Learning Outcome 4

Evaluate the principles of sustainability to destination management in the tourism industry.​

Assignment Requirements

Overview

This assignment requires you to write an individual essay that critically assesses the role of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) in advancing both international and regional tourism development.

The essay aims to deepen your understanding of how DMOs play a crucial role in promoting sustainable growth, managing resources, and implementing strategic plans within the tourism industry.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TASK – WHAT ARE YOU BEING ASKED TO DO?

The submission of a written essay that critically evaluates the role of DMOs in both international and regional tourism development, with a focus on their strategic, economic, social, and environmental contributions (4,000 words).

Essay (4,000 words) – 100%

You are required to produce an essay on “A Critical Review of the Role of DMOs in International and Regional Tourism Development” using a variety of research materials.

The essay must include

Assignment task/s to be completed

1. Introduction (300 words):

• Outline the aims and objectives of the essay, including an exploration of how sustainable practices are integrated into tourism management to address economic, social, and environmental factors.
• Briefly explain the role of DMOs and their importance in both international and regional tourism development.
• Highlight the growing significance of effective destination management in a rapidly changing global tourism landscape.

2. Task 1 (1,000 words): The Value of Tourism and the Growing Need for Effective Destination Management

• Overview of Tourism as an Asset: Discuss tourism as a major economic, social, and cultural asset on both a global and regional level.
• Economic Contributions: Utilize the UNWTO Barometer to explore tourism’s impact on GDP, employment, and local economies both globally and regionally.
• Social and Cultural Importance: Evaluate how DMOs promote cultural exchange, social integration, and the preservation of cultural heritage.
• Environmental Impact: Assess how DMOs must balance economic gains with the sustainable management of environmental resources.
• Case Studies: Utilize a range of case studies both in the UK (domestic and regional) and international) (e.g., Barcelona, Bali, Scotland’s Highlands) to showcase how DMOs effectively manage economic, social, and environmental factors within different destinations.

3. Task 2 (1,000 words): The Application of Theoretical Concepts within a DMO Context

• Tourism Area Life Cycle: Discuss how the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) model can be applied by DMOs to manage destination development from exploration to decline, with a focus on rejuvenation strategies.
• SWOT Analysis: Examine how DMOs use SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to shape their strategies and decision-making.
• Carrying Capacity: Analyse how DMOs assess the carrying capacity of tourism destinations to prevent over-tourism and resource strain.
• Tourist Typology: Discuss the importance of understanding different types of tourists (allocentric vs. psychocentric) and how DMOs tailor their offerings to meet the diverse needs and preferences of these groups.
• Examples of Theoretical Application: Use examples to show how these theoretical approaches have been applied in real-world scenarios by DMOs to manage tourism growth, sustainability, and visitor experiences.

4. Task 3 (1,000 words): The Role of DMOs in Developing Regional Tourism Destination Plans (TDPs)

• Strategic Role in TDPs: Explain the critical role of DMOs in creating and managing Tourism Destination Plans (TDPs) that align regional tourism with international best practices.
• Infrastructure Development: Assess how DMOs are responsible for ensuring the availability and quality of tourism infrastructure such as transportation, accommodations, and attractions.
• Human Resource Management: Discuss how DMOs support local employment and capacity-building by providing training and development opportunities for tourism professionals.
• Natural Resource Management: Explore how DMOs manage natural resources to ensure sustainability, protect biodiversity, and minimize environmental impacts.
• Sustainability and Green Tourism: Critically assess the role of DMOs in promoting sustainable tourism practices and integrating green tourism principles into their TDPs.
• Case Study Examples: Use a range of examples, including regional case studies from the UK, alongside international examples like Singapore, Costa Rica, and New Zealand, to illustrate how Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) have successfully managed infrastructure, human, and natural resources while ensuring sustainable growth.

5. Conclusion (700 words):

• Summary of Key Points: Summarize the main findings from the essay, reinforcing the critical role that DMOs play in international and regional tourism development.
• Challenges and Future Considerations: Reflect on the key challenges DMOs face, such as climate change, over-tourism, and shifting tourist behaviours.
• Recommendations: Provide recommendations for how DMOs can enhance their roles moving forward, including adopting innovative technologies, improving collaboration with stakeholders, and strengthening sustainability efforts.
• Concluding Thoughts: Conclude with a reflection on the growing significance of DMOs in ensuring the sustainable development of tourism destinations globally and regionally.

Additional Information required to support completing the tasks above

Important Notes:

• Your essay must be based on reliable research and supported with a minimum of 15 different sources. Academic concepts, theories, and research findings must be properly cited in accordance with the CCCU Harvard Referencing Style.
• Headers, pictures, graphs, bold or italic fonts should NOT be used in the body of the text in academic essays. Should you believe informative diagrams or graphs are useful, please attach them in the appendix.
• Students NO LONGER need to attach the cover sheet given onto their essays and DO NOT need to complete the particulars on the cover sheet.  Marking will be done ANONYMOUSLY.

See attached grid for grade descriptors.

Mandatory Referencing and Research Requirements

Referencing Style

CCCU Harvard Referencing Style.

Mandatory Sources to be included in the Assignment

Core:

Perez, W. (2022) Tourism Destination Management. New York: States Academic Press.

Recommended:

• Boniface, B. Cooper, R. and Cooper, C. (2021) Worldwide Destinations. The Geography of Travel and Tourism. 8 th edn. New York: Routledge
• Ryan, C. (2020) Advanced Introduction to Tourism Destination Management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Von Magius Mogelhoj, H. (2021) Overtourism: The Role of Effective Destination Management. New York: Business Expert Press.
• Morrison, A.M. (2023) Marketing and Managing Tourist Destinations. 3rd edn. New York: Routledge

Format of your submission and how your assignment will be assessed

This assignment should be submitted electronically via Moodle (module tutors will discuss this process with you during class time).

• Please ensure that your work has been saved in an appropriate file format (Microsoft Word). Your file must also contain at least 20 words of text, consist of fewer than 400 pages and be less than 40MB in size.
• You can submit your work as many times as you like before the submission date. If you do submit your work more than once, your earlier submission will be replaced by the most recent version.
• Once you have submitted your work, you will receive a digital receipt as proof of submission, which will be sent to your forwarded e-mail address (provided you have set this up). Please keep this receipt for future reference, along with the original electronic copy of your assignment.
• You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic misconduct, which can be viewed on the University website: Academic Misconduct Policy.  In submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations.

Assessment Criteria:

Your work will be assessed to the extent it demonstrates your achievement of the stated learning outcomes for this assignment (see above) and against other key criteria, as defined in the University’s institutional grading descriptors. Analyse and assess the importance of destination management. If it is appropriate to the format of your assignment and your subject area, a proportion of your marks will also depend on your use of academic referencing conventions.

This assignment will be marked according to the grading descriptors for Level 6; also see Table of Penalties enclosed to the Assignment Brief and Assessment Guide.

Submission Requirements

Submission Platform

This assignment should be submitted electronically using Moodle to the Module Submission link

Submission Date &Time

This assignment will be subject to Anonymous Marking by lecturers therefore you should not upload any front sheets for this assignment or put any information into the assignment brief that identifies you either by name or student ID.

This assignment will be subject to Random VIVA selection.  You will be asked to attend a meeting to demonstrate your knowledge of the assignment which should take no longer than 20-30 minutes. Please note that failure to attend the meeting means that the assignment will be graded zero until you have attended.

All submission & resubmission dates and time are as stated at the beginning of this Assignment brief.

You should submit your Assignment for all deadlines earlier than 2:00pm on the date stated. 

Late submissions can be accepted for Summative Submissions only up to a maximum of 2 working days after the submission deadline. This does not apply to resubmission deadlines. A 10-mark deduction will be made by CCCU for all late submissions.

Work submitted more than two working days after the deadline will not be accepted and will be recorded as a non-submission.

Assignments submitted to the Resubmissions deadlines will be capped at 40 by CCCU.

If you are affected by events which are unexpected, outside your control and short-term in nature (i.e. lasting one to two weeks), under the exceptional circumstances procedure you may be eligible for:

• A seven-day extension to your coursework (via self-certification request).
• A 14-day extension to your coursework (via evidence-based request).
• To defer your exam or time-constrained assessment if you have not yet submitted/attempted it (via self-certification or evidence-based request).
• To re-take an exam/time-constrained assessment, if you feel your performance on your first attempt was negatively impacted (via impaired performance request).

Please note students are only eligible to have a maximum of 2 self-certification requests per academic year.

You can make a self-certification request up to 14 calendar days before your deadline:

• for coursework it must be no later than 2pm on the deadline date
• for exams and time-constrained assessments, the request must be submitted no later than the start time of the assessment.

Table of Penalties

Issue with the Assignment

Penalty to be Applied

Suspected Academic Misconduct or Breach of Academic integrity

The Assignment will be graded zero. Written feedback will be ‘This assignment has been identified as potential Academic Misconduct/Breach of Academic Integrity. You will be invited to a meeting to discuss’.

You will be invited to a meeting with an academic Misconduct reviewer. When you attend the meeting if Academic Misconduct or the breach of Academic Integrity is upheld you will be asked to rewrite the section of the assignment it applies to and re-submit the assignment. 

Do not upload any assignments to the AMC submission links before the meeting otherwise it will be removed.

Failure to attend the meeting means the assignment will remain graded at zero and you will be unable to pass the module until you have attended the meeting.

The assignment is more than 10% over the prescribed wordcount i.e. for 3,000 words, if 3,400 is submitted excluding the cover page, table of contents, references and appendices.

A 10-mark deduction applied to the overall grade that is manually entered by the Lecturer. This deduction is capped at 40%, which means an assignment cannot get less than 40% if a deduction has to be made.

For example, if the mark for the assignment was 60. The lecturer would deduct 10 marks, and the mark will be 50.  Written feedback will also state ‘This assignment is 10% over the wordcount and 10 marks have been deducted’.

Where assignments are more than 10% less than the prescribed wordcount and lecturers cannot identify if the learning outcomes have been met.

This assignment will be graded below 40.

Where a student submits a .pdf instead of a word document.

This assignment will be graded a Fail.

The lecturer will grade as 1 and the written feedback will state ‘This is a pdf submission and is not allowed. All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format’.

Students not working in their groups as agreed by the lecturer.

This assignment will be graded a Fail. 

The lecturer will grade as 1 and the written feedback will state ‘This submission was not completed in the designated group’.

Please note: Where a student has asked the lecturer to move from their original group and the lecturer has agreed this does not apply.

For a presentation assignment that requires oral delivery, and the student does not present in person.

The Oral rubric criteria is not moved, and the oral criteria will remain at zero.

For a presentation assignment and the student does not upload a converted PPT To Word File with speaker notes.

The communication rubric criteria is not moved, and the communication criteria will remain at zero.

For a presentation assignment that requires oral delivery, and the student did not present on the day or upload the presentation to a Word document with speaker Notes.

This assignment will be graded a Fail.

The lecturer will grade as 1 and the written feedback will state ‘There was no Oral presentation in class and the submission was not converted to Microsoft Word’.

For a presentation assignment the student uploads a file that contains no slides and is simply continuous text.

This assignment will be graded a Fail.

The lecturer will grade as 1 and the written feedback will state ‘There are no slides present in the assignment submission’.

If the assignment is group work and the resubmission is not changed to individual work.

If a group assignment is failed then the resubmitted work must be changed by a minimum of 25% to make it an individual piece of work.

This means if a Group Presentation is 12 slides a minimum of 3 must be different to the group submission. If the assignment is a Group Poster with 6 text boxes then a minimum of 2 of them must be different to the Group Poster.

This assignment will be graded a Fail.

The lecturer will grade as 1 and the written feedback will state ‘This resubmission should be individual and a minimum of 25% of the assignment has not changed’.

Where a written assignment has text that is unable to be read by Turnitin because it is either a graphical image (excluding Presentations & Posters); for example, a screenshot or the assignment is written within text boxes on each page.

This assignment will be graded 0 and the written feedback should state ‘This assignment is unreadable by Turnitin and cannot be checked for Academic Misconduct. It has been referred for an AMC meeting’.

The assignment will then be referred for Academic Misconduct investigation.

An assignment that does not make use of any Mandatory references provided in the assignment brief/Module Handbook.

The reference rubric criteria is not moved and that criteria will remain at zero

An assignment has a reference list, but no citations.

The reference rubric criteria is not moved and that criteria will remain at zero.

Written feedback should state ’The reference criteria has been graded Zero as no citations have been used.  Please include citations in your assignment to support the academic points being made’.

An assignment has no citations and no reference list.

Foundation & Level 4 – The reference rubric criteria is not moved and that criteria will remain at zero. The written feedback will state ‘Please ensure that you use citations and references to support your assignment submission’.

At Level 5 and Level 6 this would be graded as a Fail. The lecturer will grade as 1 and written feedback will also show ‘This assignment has no citations and no reference list’.

Where False references are included in an assignment.

This will be referred for Academic Misconduct.

This assignment will be graded 0 and the written feedback should state ‘This assignment contains false references and has been referred for Academic Misconduct. You will be invited to attend an Academic Misconduct meeting’.

Assignment is submitted after the Late Deadline or if it is a Resubmission, after the Resubmission deadline

This assignment will be graded a Fail.

The lecturer will grade as 1 and written feedback should state `This assignment was submitted after the deadline. Please resubmit at the next resubmission opportunity.`