Tourism and Leisure Behavior

Catalog description

Examination of the impact of recreational sociocultural, governmental, economic, and physical environment on the leisure traveler within the tourism industry. RPTM 300 Tourism and Leisure Behavior (3) (IL)The objective of this course is to help students understand the tourism concept from a national and international perspective. The students will debate the motivations that lead people to engage in tourism and in hosting tourists. They will also examine the social, economic and ecological impacts that tourism development can bring to host communities and to tourists. The students will finally apply all the learned materials to conceptualize sustainable development strategies that aim at improving the quality of live of host communities, provide quality experiences to visitors, and protect the existing cultural and ecological resources of the destination. Main topics typically include:; History - How people engage in tourism throughout all periods of history and the influence of major historic events on modem tourism; Socio-cultural impacts - How host cultures are transformed through tourism; Economic impacts - Revenues and costs to host economies due to tourism; Ecological impacts - Ways in which tourism helps and hurts the environment; International terrorism and peace - Why tourism is called the peace industry and how it is affected by terrorism and political instability; Sex tourism - Why tourism can alleviate or aggravate the exploitation of vulnerable segments of society; Tourism planning and policy - How to plan and manage tourism in ways that it produces sustainable benefits to the host community This is a required course for RPTM majors in the Community and Commercial Recreation option. Students in other majors are welcome.