Bachelor of Travel and Tourism Management
(Eco-Adventure Tourism)
INTRODUCTION
Tourism is now widely recognized as the world’s largest industry and its growth is creating rapid social,
economic and environmental changes which require detailed understanding and measures to manage it. Tourism is
recognized as a major area of study among students all over the world and its development and management hold
many career opportunities for students. Moreover, the new introduced degree focuses on eco-adventure tourism
which is one of the promising and growing industries in Saudi Arabia and is particularly important to the economy,
because of its job generation capacity, particularly in regional areas. Saudi Arabia’s major tourism asset is its
natural environment, such as its unique flora and fauna, long coastlines, and its spectacular and beautiful landscapes
and geology which will be of extreme attractions to nature tourists.
Eco-adventure tourism management degree will prepare students for a successful career in managing eco-adventure
activities and organizations in today’s highly dynamic and challenging environments. The program will equip students
with the necessary skills from a management perspective which will be invaluable in seeking to understand what the
eco-adventure tourism industry need to do to improve their competitive edge, grow their business and seek new business
opportunities out.
OBJECTIVES
The bachelor of eco-adventure tourism aims to achieve the following educational objectives:
- Have a thorough understanding of the concepts and characteristics of eco-adventure tourism as an area of academic and applied study;
- To provide students with an understanding of the economic, environmental, social and cultural settings in which tourism, namely eco-tourism, takes place;
- Have a thorough understanding of the planning processes, concepts, practical skills and techniques used to assist communities in developing appropriate eco-tourism and nature tourism activities;
- Have a thorough understanding of the relationship between tourism and the management of natural and cultural resources, such as the national parks and the inhabitants of local communities;
- Ability to relate key concepts to a variety of tourism activities, such as camping, desert safaris, bird-watching, diving, fossil hunting, nature photography, cave-exploration, mountains climbing, and attractions such as parks and museums;
- Develop an understanding of the relationship between tourism and sustainable development, as well as an awareness of environmental issues;
- Develop an understanding of entrepreneurial, guiding, program development, and tour operation skills required to create sustainable tourism in Saudi Arabia;
- Have a thorough understanding of the structure of and interactions in the tourism and eco-adventure tourism industry;
- Have a thorough understanding of the nature and characteristics of tourists;
- Learning how to process tourism information, its collection, analysis and presentation; applying it to problem solving and decision making, thereby enabling students to make an immediate contribution to the challenges of tourism organizations;
- To help students develop their interpersonal skills, encourage team-work through team-work and group activities in class assignments;
- To provide students with the necessary eco-adventure tourism education to prepare them for the pursuit of further studies.