News

Mountain tourism course scholarships announced

26.07.2017

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and its UNWTO.Themis Foundation are offering one scholarship to officials from UNWTO Member States and one scholarship to graduates from UNWTO.TedQual certified programmes for the first international Postgraduate Diploma in Mountain Destination Management, to be held from October 2017 to June 2018.

For many mountain destinations, tourism has become a key sector driving the socio-economic growth and development of local communities. Mountain areas often face important constraints for their development, including harsh climate conditions, vulnerability to natural disasters and challenges of infrastructure development, remoteness and accessibility. In this context, tourism offers an important potential to uplift local communities and stimulate economic growth in mountain destinations, being a labour-intensive sector with high multiplier effects.

This Postgraduate Diploma – taught in English, in blended format (online and onsite) – will be offered by the University of Andorra in collaboration with UNWTO, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation and Pallarsactiu, with limited coursework provided by the Colorado State University and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

The main objective of this postgraduate programme is to ensure excellence for professionals aiming to occupy positions in organizations and tourism companies geared towards improving the competitiveness and sustainability of mountain tourism destinations. As a destination manager, future graduates of this programme will be responsible for all aspects of the tourism experience, planning and implementation, resource management, services, infrastructure, events, activities and all of the general elements that ensure the best experience for visitors to their destination.

The Postgraduate Diploma has a total of 30 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits with a curriculum that will offer students the opportunity to complete two itineraries of 16 ECTS each in order to focus their professional career through greater specialization and thus, improve their chances of employment. Therefore, the students who successfully complete the 16 ECTS credits of one itinerary will acquire a Postgraduate Certificate in Mountain Tourism Destination Planning and/or a Postgraduate Certificate in Mountain Tourism Destination Marketing by the University of Andorra.

In addition, the students who successfully complete the 30 ECTS credits of the programme will obtain the Postgraduate Diploma in Mountain Destination Management by the University of Andorra. Moreover, as Colorado State University will deliver some courses for these postgraduate programmes, its credits will be recognized by this University within its Ski Area Management Graduate Certificate Programme.

Scholarships

The UNWTO scholarships offered to officials from UNWTO Member States and to graduates from TedQual certified programmes will cover 50 percent of the tuition fees. They will not cover transport to and from the onsite sessions, full-board accommodation during the onsite sessions or travel insurance (compulsory). All candidacies will be considered and evaluated, but only selected candidates will be contacted. For full details about the requirements of official and graduates and how to apply, see here: http://themis.unwto.org/event/scholarships-postgraduate-diploma-mountain-destination-management-university-andorra

Deadline

The deadline for application for the scholarship is 1 September 2017, and the deadline to register for the postgraduate programme is 30 September 2017.

For further information on the Postgraduate Diploma, contact Alisa Vaughan at [email protected], and for further information on the UNWTO scholarship, contact Pay Facio at [email protected].

Photo: FAO/Stefano Zocca