Business Administration Major in Travel and Tourism Management

This course introduces students to the world of computers. They will learn about devices, network, operating systems, product software (word processing, PowerPoint and spreadsheets), the Internet, Basic and advanced commands are also explored.

Economics has been described as “the branch of social science that deals with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services, and their management.” This course combines economic theory and application in an up to date, accessible, and appealing way. It is designed to engage students and help them realize the power of economic theory in explaining the practical aspects of their lives.

Superior English proficiency is essential in any business environment and is fundamental for students wishing to pursue higher education. This course gives students an understanding of reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in order to gain a strong command of English communication skills.

This course is designed to develop the skills necessary to research and write academic essays. The American Psychological Association (APA) style is taught: The rules of APA Style, detailed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, offer sound guidance for writing with simplicity, power, and concision. APA Style has been adapted by many disciplines and is used by writers around the world. (source: www.apa.org)

This course provides a broad introduction to business in Canada today and the economic and environmental forces influencing the nature of organizations. It provides a background to the development of business activity and identifies trends in Canada and globally. Students will examine the social, economic, technological and political/legal elements of the environment and the purposes and activities of organizations of various types, sizes and structures.

This course covers basic accounting concept and principles, their application to transactions, financial statement, and an introductory consideration of the balance sheet and income statement.

This course is designed to familiarize students with the basic concepts in the broad field of marketing. The course covers the basic elements of marketing, including market segmentation, target market selection, product positioning, and design of the marketing mix. In particular, attention is directed towards the study of the principles of effective marketing planning, which begins with an understanding of consumers and entails appropriate product, pricing, promotion and channel strategy.

This course provides students with an overview of the skills, knowledge and insight needed to identify fertile markets, to successfully seed that market, and to grow a customer base with the right amount of time, attention and hands-on care. It also emphasizes the career, rewards, and duties of sales, while providing students with an understanding of the social, ethical, and legal environments of sales departments. The textbook uses a logical, step-by-step approach, guiding students through the selling process and providing the tools needed to build effective customer relationships.

This course covers the duties and responsibilities of all people in the context of their employment as it pertains to the making of decisions that are fair and just, moral and environmentally conscious. The ethics component will evolve around the theories and issues of right, wrong, fairness, and justice, as they arise in a business environment. The social responsibility component is designed to increase understanding of a business's ability to be a responsible corporate citizen. The sustainability component highlights topical Canadian and international environmental issues.

Organizational behaviour is a rapidly changing field of inquiry that studies what people think, do and feel in and around organizations. Organizations are groups of people who work interdependently towards some purpose. The concepts to be studied in this course will assist in predicting events in the workplace. It is also hoped that critical insight is developed around these predictive theories of reality to better understand how organizations can be enabled to control events effectively. These theories attempt to make sense of the work world and examine and challenge our personal theories of human behaviour.

Tourism being one of the world’s largest industry, its size and scope necessitate a full introduction course for learners. Tourism is growing, dynamic, and global, with a tremendous economic, environmental and cultural impact. It is both a product and a service. This course introduces all 5 sectors of the industry and is designed to help the learner identify the factors which influence the industry in both positive and negative ways as well as what motivates people to partake in tourism activities.

This course is designed to introduce major tourism destinations; it is comprised of an in-depth study of most countries in the world. Students discover more about natural and man-made attractions, culture, currencies, food and beverage facilities, hospitality establishments, and all documentation required to travel. The focus is on better understanding geography in order to succeed in the tourism industry: it shows how a realistic knowledge of destinations can translate into a travel and tourism career success in tourism businesses where selling a destination is an essential skill for employment.

In order to be effective in a global world, more specifically in the tourism industry, people must have high cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence (CQ) is a rich and dynamic skill set that can be developed through self-awareness and study. Learners in this course will develop skills they can take with them and use at work, at home, abroad, or in any setting where cross-cultural awareness, understanding, and interaction is required.

The focus is on developing competence in cross-cultural communication in a variety of settings related to the tourism industry.

COPS BC Unique Scenario 2009 (BC Work Futures) projects employment openings in the Restaurant and Food Service Managers occupation to be at 23,960 by the year 2015. As the restaurant and food service industry is often the entry level position for numerous businesses in the tourism industry, this is an essential course for graduates of the Tourism Management program. The purpose of this course is to provide the student with an introduction to the world of restaurant and food service operations.

More specifically, the course will provide an opportunity to understand the structure, nature and operating characteristics of food service as well as being able to identify the role of managers in the food service industry and to highlight their principal responsibilities.

This course is designed to provide an overview of tourism products and services such as: Surface and Ground Transportation (Rail, Car Rental and Motor coach companies), Accommodation, Cruise Industry, Tour Operators, and Activities and Events. The emphasis is on obtaining detailed knowledge of these products, services and suppliers, and sharing this information and costs associated with products and services with clients. The course introduces terminology, preparing itineraries, costing, verifying documentation and informing the client.

This course presents insights into key issues related to the successful operation of destination management organizations (DMO’s); it includes perspectives from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico. Topics include services, sales, marketing, research and performance measurement, communications, product development, technology, human resources, member care, finance, governance, and alliances. The focus is on the functions of convention and visitor bureau (CVB’s) such as Tourism Vancouver, and other marketing organizations such as the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC).

This course will guide through, and expose the learner to, a variety of information, website, articles and diverging point of views on sustainable tourism. The course will start by introducing ethical theories and the responsibilities of tourism business owners and stakeholders towards sustainability in tourism. The learner will be expected to demonstrate reflective thinking and problem-solving skills on the topic of sustainable tourism.

This course focuses on the operations of travel agencies, airlines, and airports. All aspects of this large component of the tourism industry are examined: regulatory bodies; management of information; communication with clients; policies and procedures; promotional activities, and human resources development. The course ends with a seminar on career preparation.

This course outlines legal issues in Canadian sport and recreation management. Topics covered include a range of key topics that students in Sport and Recreation programs must understand as they enter the field, including risk analysis, insurance, legal liability, issues in tourism and casual recreation, and professional and amateur sport participation.

This course outlines four key components of human resources management: Challenges and the Legal Context, Attracting and Selecting People for the Organization, Developing People in the Organization, and Employee Relations. Each of the topic will be examined from two lenses: 1) General HR practices; 2) HR practices in the tourism industry.

Quoting airfares, issuing tickets, collecting payment, and processing refunds and exchanges are all essential components of the travel profession. This course provides a complete overview of domestic and international airfares, taxes, currency, and ticketing processes. Accurate interpretation of faring information is stressed. This includes all ticketing entries, domestic and international, fare calculation lines, tax codes and mileage system symbols. The ticketing portion presents current ticketing documents and procedures as mandated by the Billing Settlement Plan (BSP) – Canada: Manual for Passenger Sales Agents and the IATA Ticketing Handbook.

This hands-on course is designed to learn how to operate a Global Distribution System (GDS), also called a Computerized Reservation System (CRS). These systems are an important part of the travel industry and perform many duties, including operating as a sales tool, a communication device and an inventory management tool.