| CODE | GEO2016 | |||||||||
| TITLE | The Geography of Tourism | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Geography | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business or professional purposes. The geography of tourism deals with the study of the tourism within a series of spatial scales: from the global to the local. These include Europe, the Mediterranean and its islands, and Malta. As a tertiary form of industry tourism provides an overall service to users by the providers and operators. The fundamental geographical aspects of tourism are that it occurs in places, is sold and consumed and begins in a place of origin, and ends at places of destination. However, tourists then go back to their country of origin and constituting the geography of their return journey. This study-unit first gives a representation of the definition and place of tourism as a tertiary economic activity within the five-fold subdivision of employment. The unit continues with a review of the Mediterranean and the Maltese Islands within their scale, accuracy, shape of the landscape as added values to the tourism product of the areas. This also includes the historical and geo-political scenarios that condition the Mediterranean and its attraction or otherwise for tourists. The second set of lectures deals with the cultural imprints on the landscape that attract tourism by assessing the landscape and introducing the concepts of spatial stages of landscape transformation through their physical and the cultural resource base. The third element of this unit concerns field experience with a practical session to a tourist resort to evaluate the main integration of the human and physical geographies that make up the local environment. The fourth element introduces the concept of geomorphosites. These are sites that have a natural physical construct that contribute to geotourism which is an important element of cultural tourism. The integration of the geomorphological environment with cultural heritage concludes the series of lectures. Study-Unit Aims: To help students to bridge the links between the physical and human geographies and historical events as represented by the heritage and cultural landscape; - To assist participants in comparing historical and contemporary tourist information maps; - To guide students in evaluating the transition of sites from their origins as hamlets for fishermen to their contemporary use of intensively developed coastal zones; - To support undergraduates to identify elements of the physical environment, including individual sites, that have potential as a tourist attraction. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify the geographical changes made to the landscape by human action; - Combine the geographical properties of the landscape to the historical evolution of the environment under investigation; - Understand, describe and interpret the human and physical environments through field sessions; - Recognize that the socio-economic dimensions of tourism are integrated within the whole cultural structures of countries and regions. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Develop an awareness of the value of geography within the tourism economic sector; - Identify with the integration of the cultural and natural environments as an important aspect within the tourism economy; - Evaluate the contribution of physical and cultural landscapes to the tourism product; - Analyze and express results derived from the field. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Hall, M. C., Page, S. J. (2014) The Geography of Tourism and Recreation: Environment, Place and Space. Routledge. - Leitao, A.B., Miller, J., Ahern,J and McGarigal, M. (2006) Measuring Landscapes. Island Press, Washington. Supplementary Readings: - Pacione, M (2005) Urban Geography: A Global Perspective. Routledge, London. - Sheppard, E. and McMaster, R.B. (2004) Scale and Geographic Inquiry: Nature, Society and Method. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. - Soldati, M. Buhagiar, M. Cortaza, P. Pasuto, A. and Schembri, J.A. Eds (2008) Integration of the geomorphological environment and cultural heritage for tourism promotion and hazard prevention. Proceedings of the Italo-Maltese Workshop in Geogafia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria, Vol 31 (2), 250pp. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Fieldwork and Independent Study | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | John A. Schembri |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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