Since 2003, I have been teaching Destination Planning with Lauren Bohatka for the Accelerated Master of Tourism Administration Program at George Washington University. This week we welcome 28 graduate students to the launch of the seventh cohort of the course. Many of the students are already professionals in tourism and/or related areas. It looks like we will have one of the best groups ever this semester.

As much as possible, Lauren and I attempt to weave our experiences as tourism development practitioners into the “fabric” of the course. I am based in Washington, DC as head of SW Associates, an international tourism development consulting practice. I specialize in tourism development in emerging markets. Lauren is based in Venice, Italy for UNESCO and travels throughout southeastern Europe advising on sustainable tourism and related areas.

The Course

As the course progresses, I’ll share some of the highlights via this blog and other channels. I welcome feedback especially if you happen to work in tourism in one of the destinations that the students will be analyzing. One of their first assignments will be to conduct a SWOT analysis of a national or state level tourism strategy or plan. So far, students have selected North Carolina, Turkey and Iceland. For further information about the AMTA program, click here.

The course covers the following:

1. Overview of tourism planning approaches
2. Organizational concepts
3. Tourism Planning Models
4. National Level Tourism Planning
5. Local Level Tourism Planning
6. Tourism Planning, Environmental Impact Analysis and Climate Change
7. Social Impact Analysis
8. Emerging Issues and Trends in Tourism Planning, especially social media.