Master's Degree in Tourism Intelligence

The tourism sector has historically been a pioneer in introducing the latest technological advances, especially those related to information and communications technologies. With regard to tourism planning and management, a new approach is currently linked to the implementation of technology in a comprehensive, integrated manner in tourist destinations. This new approach leads us to the concept of Tourism Intelligence, understood as the coherent and harmonious interrelation of the basic pillars of tourism development and sustainability, using and taking advantage of information and communications technologies.

This way, tourism intelligence implies collecting and leveraging the data generated by users to learn about their motivations and needs, improve and adjust the supply to demand efficiently, but above all to support strategic decision making at a destination and/or tourist company. In short, Tourism Intelligence is considered as an excellent way for tourism planning and management, reaching a broad and orderly development from innovation, governance, accessibility, sustainability and connectivity.

The Valencian Institute of Tourism Research (Invat·tur) has a line of work dedicated to research in this area which has led to the creation of the Network of Intelligent Tourism Destinations of the Valencian Community, and also plans to expand to companies and other academic and research institutions linked to tourism activity. The curricular development of the Master's Degree in Tourism Intelligence is based and inspired by the principles contained in the intelligent tourist destination model established by Invat·tur.

The implementation of these concepts to higher tourism studies involves students' who will receive the training, future professionals and even users, who with their knowledge and application of these technologies will be the motivators of structural changes in companies and tourist destinations. Knowing the different technological options and their application to tourism is essential for these students, both to improve their training, as well as for the contributions they can make to this sector. However, the lack of this type of training is unquestionable.

The main objective of this master's degree is to ensure the specialization of students in the integration of technological solutions and tourism intelligence models for the collection, analysis and interpretation of data that will help in the decision-making process of a company or tourist destination. Holistically, this master will delve into the knowledge of the main technological tools at the service of companies and tourism administrations in terms of customer management, visitor control, access to resources, promotion and marketing of products and tourist destinations. The purpose is for students to be able to understand and assimilate the integral process that is followed for tourism management through the collection and use of data, its processing and presentation for decision making. All this will be addressed from the standpoint of information management and the use of own data obtained from customers and other external sources. The methodological proposal includes some of the fundamental elements of the UPV Strategic Plan such as:

• • Project Based Learning (PBL)

  • Learning-Service (LS)

  • Internationalisation: English Friendly Course (EFC)

  • Reverse Teaching

This Master's Degree has been structured in five compulsory courses, with 2 subjects per course, and each of the subjects has been assigned 4.5 ECTS (1.5 Theory + 2 Internship + 1 Transversal Project). In addition, three optional credits and 12 corresponding to the FMD are planned:

• • COURSE 1: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS (ICT)

  • COURSE 2: INFORMATION ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES (TAI)

  • COURSE 3: GOVERNANCE AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT (GGT)

  • COURSE 4 INNOVATION AND TOURISM DISTRIBUTION (IDT)

  • COURSE 5: DIGITAL CONTENTS FOR TOURISM (CDT)

  • OPTIONAL

  • FINAL MASTER'S DISSERTATION (FMD)

Bachelor's degrees in the branch of Economics and Social Sciences, particularly those in Tourism, Business Administration and Tourism - Business Administration, are regarded as the most appropriate to access this master's degree.

The criteria and requirements for the admission of students to the Master's Degree in Tourism Intelligence are as follows:

• • Fulfilling the requirements established in the official regulations (this is an eliminatory requirement).

  • The suitability of the degree allowing the student to be admitted to the master's degree.

  • The student's academic record.

  • Proven research by the student in the Master's degree subject area: scholarships, articles, stays, participation in conferences, etc.

  • The student's professional experience, internships, etc.

  • The student's motivation (in order to evaluate this aspect, applicants must submit a motivation letter together with their pre-registration, specifying their interest in the Master's degree subject area, their professional relationship -if any- with it, whether they intend to write a doctoral thesis at the end of the Master's, and any other aspects that they consider appropriate).

In the event that the number of places offered is exceeded by the number of applications for admission, each of the above criteria will be weighted for the purpose of establishing a final assessment. For this purpose, students who meet the requirements established in the official regulations and hold a degree that is suitable to this master's degree will be considered. On the basis of the remaining criteria, weighting will be carried out as follows:

• • The student's academic record will be valued at up to 50 points. The student's average qualification (out of 10) will be multiplied by a multiplication factor based on the adequacy coefficient of their access degree. This coefficient will range from 1 to 5, depending on the degree allowing each student to be admitted to the Master's.

  • Accredited research experience will be valued at up to 25 points. Accredited professional experience will be valued at up to 15 points.

  • Motivation will be valued at up to 10 points.

Higher Polytechnic School of Gandia

Several institutions and people related to the tourism sector have shown their support for this proposal. The following table lists the main supports received: