Everything you need to know...
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What is the fee?
Home: £12,440 for the course
International/EU: £20,100 for the course -
How long will I study?
2 Years
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Where will I study?
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When do I start?
September 2026
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Placement year available?
Yes
Course summary
- Challenge your understanding of tourism and aviation.
- Gain the employability skills you need to start or progress your career.
- Develop research skills and progress to further studies or consultancy.
- Plan, manage and promote tourism and aviation products, businesses and destinations in a safe, competitive and sustainable manner.
The tourism and aviation sectors combined form one of the most exciting and fastest-growing industries globally. This course is designed to provide you with the theoretical background, skills and experiences necessary to become a successful leader within the tourism and aviation industry.
Sheffield Business School accreditation
Sheffield Business School is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and has been awarded the Business School Impact System label by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD).
Tourism subject group award
Our Tourism subject group is recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT), the membership organisation for tourism industry professionals and educators.
Come to an open day
Find out more at our postgraduate open days. Book now for your place.
How you learn
This course will allow you to apply and critically challenge your understanding of the industry in practical contexts, particularly in the work-related learning modules and during the optional industry placement.
You will also critically examine the safety, sustainability and corporate social responsibility of the international tourism and aviation industry. Your employability skills will be enhanced through focus on communications and team-working, which are vital for career development.
You learn through
- lectures and seminars
- tutorials and workshops
- industry lectures and site visits
- face-to-face experiences
- airline and aviation operations management simulation
This course is delivered face-to-face over three semesters - teaching is scheduled based on the length of your course and the academic calendar.
Work experience is embedded midway through your course. Your dissertation module will be submitted upon completion of your placement.
Applied learning
Work placements
You’ll have the opportunity to source a work placement for up to 12 months, where you’ll apply academic theory and your skills in a real-world setting. This hands-on experience will enhance your professional development and help you to make informed career choices after graduation. Throughout your placement, you’ll be supported to reflect on your experience and contribution to the organisation you work for. You'll also share your progress and achievements with your Placement Academic Supervisor as part of your final assessment.
Work placements are competitive and will require you to make formal applications to employers and be successful in securing an opportunity. The application process for placements takes place while you are a student with us. To support you in applying for placements, you’ll complete an additional placement preparation program that introduces you to the UK employment landscape and prepares you for the recruitment and assessment activities you will experience during that process. We also maintain a large database of placement offers that you can search to find opportunities most relevant to your course that you can apply for.
Networking opportunities
Guest lectures from visiting academics, researchers and other professionals will further enhance your knowledge and understanding and to encourage contact with the industry.
Field trips
There are field visits in certain modules which aim to provide real-world knowledge of the industry, and to provide context for your theoretical studies.
Course leaders and tutors
Modules
Important notice: The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.
You can take an optional placement year in year two.
Year 1
Compulsory modules
This module develops your ability to analyse and evaluate commercial operations in tourism and aviation. You’ll explore strategic decision-making, revenue models, and operational responses to global challenges and regulatory pressures.
You’ll study topics such as:
- Key components of tourism and aviation operations
- Operational strategies for service quality and efficiency
- Revenue sources in tourism and aviation industries
- Yield management and pricing strategies
- Financial benchmarking and performance analysis
- Capacity planning and regulatory compliance
- Commercial strategies for growth and sustainability
- Corporate Social Responsibility and impact of business development
- Legislative and regulatory challenges
- Strategic responses to industry change
The aim of this module is to enhance students’ professional development through the completion of, and reflection on meaningful work experience.
A work experience will provide students with opportunities to experience the realities of professional employment and experience how their course can be applied within their chosen industry setting. The placement will:
Allow student to apply the skills, theories and behaviours relevant and in addition to their course.
Enable students to enhance their interpersonal skills in demand by graduate employers – communication, problem solving, creativity, resilience, team work etc.
Grow their student network and relationship building skills.
Provide students with insights into the industry and sector in which their placement occurs.
Help student make informed graduate careers choices.
In this module, students will undertake a work experience (minimum duration and expectations as per HESA regulations – clarified on assignment brief/Blackboard) which is integrated, assessed and aligned to their studies and appropriate for their level of study.
Their personal Placement Academic Supervisor (PAS) will be their key point of contact during their work experience and will encourage and support students to reflect on their experience, learning and contribution to the organisation they work for.
To demonstrate gains in professional development, students will be required to share their progress, learning and achievements with their Placement Academic Supervisor and reflect on these for the summative piece of work.
This module explores how tourism and aviation industries manage environmental impacts. You’ll critically assess sustainability strategies, technological innovations, and consumer behaviours shaping responsible operations.
You’ll study topics such as:
- Environmental challenges in tourism and aviation
- Tools for assessing environmental impacts
- Evaluating sustainability policies and strategies
- Technological innovations for emissions reduction
- Sustainable fuels and electric aircraft developments
- Environment, social, governance and UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Consumer attitudes toward environmental responsibility
- Ethical challenges in sustainable tourism and aviation
- Professional skills for ethical decision-making
- Work-based learning for sustainability impact
This module explores key safety and security challenges across tourism sectors. You’ll critically examine how organisations assess risks and manage emergencies to protect customers, staff, and operations.
You’ll study topics such as:
- Safety and security issues in tourism and aviation
- Risk assessment and management techniques
- Safety culture and corporate responsibility
- Identifying hazards and managing consequences
- Safety management systems and frameworks
- Security policies and operational procedures
- Emergency planning and response strategies
- Crisis communication and incident management
This module develops your ability to make ethical, sustainable, and strategic business decisions. You’ll explore how to analyse environments, interpret data, and implement responsible strategies aligned with global priorities.
You’ll study topics such as:
- Analysing internal and external business environments
- Interpreting finance and business intelligence data
- Developing sustainable products and markets
- Designing international business strategies
- Ethical recruitment and inclusive workforce planning
- Evaluating strategic options responsibly
- Implementing strategic decisions effectively
- Aligning strategies with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
- Planning personal and professional development
- Enhancing sector awareness through reflection
Final year
Elective modules
This module develops your consultancy skills through a live project with a real client. You’ll investigate a specific organisational issue, apply research methods, and deliver practical insights. Alongside the project, you’ll reflect on its broader relevance to professional practice.
You’ll study topics such as:
- Defining project scope with your client
- Applying relevant theoretical frameworks
- Choosing appropriate research methods
- Addressing ethical research considerations
- Conducting a focused literature review
- Analysing and interpreting research data
- Drawing evidence-based conclusions
- Communicating findings clearly and professionally
- Managing your project effectively
- Reflecting on consultancy in professional practice
This module strengthens your critical research skills as you explore a current issue within your discipline. You’ll design and carry out an independent research project, generating insights that contribute to both academic knowledge and professional practice.
You’ll study topics such as:
- Defining your research question and focus
- Applying theoretical frameworks effectively
- Selecting appropriate research methods
- Addressing ethical research considerations
- Conducting a structured literature review
- Analysing and interpreting research data
- Drawing meaningful, evidence-based conclusions
- Managing your dissertation timeline
- Writing clearly and persuasively
- Reflecting on research in professional contexts
This module will enhance your critical research and analysis skills as you explore and reflect on a specific issue in relation to your work experience. You will investigate an organisational issue and provide valuable insights for organisational stakeholders, and you will also consider wider relevance to professional practice.
You’ll study topics such as:
- Working with stakeholders to formulate research purpose and focus
- Theoretical frameworks to inform research design
- Research methods including ethical considerations
- Literature review
- Analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of data
- Writing up/managing your research project
Future careers
This course prepares you for a career as a
- international tour operator
- airline operator
- airport operator
- transport operator
- destination manager
- hotel manager
- tourist manager
- government employee
- tourism and aviation consultant
Where will I study?
You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.
City Campus
City Campus is located in the heart of Sheffield, within minutes of the train and bus stations.
City Campus map | City Campus tour
Adsetts library
Adsetts Library is located on our City Campus. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.
Learn moreEntry requirements
All students
Normally an honours degree (2:2 or above) or a recognised equivalent qualification. We will consider enquiries from those who have substantial management experience but do not have the normal entry requirements. We may invite these potential students for an interview to discuss their particular background, experience and qualifications.
If English is not the student's first language the student will need an IELTS score of 6.5 or above, with a minimum score of 6.0 in each skill element.
We welcome applications from people of any age. There may be some flexibility in entry requirements provided the applicant has other relevant learning or experience. This may be formally accredited learning (i.e. where students have certificates to indicate the learning that has taken place and associated achievement) which is not covered in the above admissions requirements; experiential learning (i.e. learning which has taken place in contexts such as paid work, voluntary work, self-employment, or through other aspects of life experience) or a combination of the two. We look for evidence of experiential learning through such things as job descriptions, references, reflective personal statements, and interviews with course leaders and admissions tutors. The Course Team will review the evidence and will then make a judgement as to whether or not students will benefit from and are likely to complete the course successfully.
Additional information for EU/International students
If you are an International or non-UK European student, you can find out more about the country specific qualifications we accept on our international qualifications page.
For details of English language entry requirements (IELTS), please see the information for 'All students'.
Fees and funding
Home students
Our tuition fee for UK students starting full-time study in 2026/27 is £12,440 for the course. The tuition fee displayed above is for the full course. For this work experience route, your fees will be payable over two years, divided into two annual payments based on credits studied. The fee includes dedicated employability support to help you prepare for and secure work experience. It does not guarantee you a placement and if a placement is not secured the work experience fee will still be charged. If a placement is not secured you will transfer to the standard version of the course to complete your remaining credits, where the balance of your course fees will be due in year one in line with completing the course.
If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found in our terms and conditions under student fees regulations.
International students
Our tuition fee for International/EU students starting full-time study in 2026/27 is £20,100 for the course. The tuition fee displayed above is for the full course. For this work experience route, your fees will be payable over two years, divided into two annual payments based on credits studied. The fee includes dedicated employability support to help you prepare for and secure work experience. It does not guarantee you a placement and if a placement is not secured the work experience fee will still be charged. If a placement is not secured you will transfer to the standard version of the course to complete your remaining credits, where the balance of your course fees will be due in year one in line with completing the course.
Scholarships and financial support
Find information on scholarships, bursaries and postgraduate student loans.
International scholarships up to £3000 ›
Alumni scholarships up to £2000 ›
Postgraduate loans for UK students ›
Additional course costs
The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses. These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.
General course additional costs
Additional costs for Sheffield Business School (PDF, 278.4KB)Legal information
Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.
