Higher Diploma in Sustainable Tourism
Course Overview
The Higher Diploma in Sustainable Tourism is a UK Level 5 qualification running 15 to 18 months and aligned with Institute of Travel & Tourism (ITT), Tourism Society and UKinbound guidance on sustainable practice. It equips tourism professionals to move from coordinator or product-officer roles into responsibility for sustainable operations across destinations, tour operators and tourism boards.
By graduation you can build a sustainability plan for a destination or tour product, use recognised UK and international reporting frameworks, brief operations teams, and defend a capstone project on a sustainability programme. Credit transfer into a UK Bachelor's top-up is confirmed at enrolment.
Key Features
- Fifteen-to-eighteen-month Higher Diploma aligned with ITT and Tourism Society guidance.
- Destination sustainability planning modules with UKinbound reference material.
- Sustainable operations content aligned with ABTA sustainability toolkits.
- Live briefs from UK destination management organisations and tour operators.
- Capstone sustainability plan for an operating tourism partner.
- Named programme-tutor support from working sustainable tourism professionals.
- Confirmed credit transfer into a UK Bachelor's top-up.
What You Will Learn
- Build a sustainability plan for a destination, tour product or tourism board.
- Apply UK and international sustainability frameworks to a tourism programme.
- Measure carbon, water, waste and community impact of a tour operation.
- Design responsible product itineraries and supplier standards.
- Report to boards, funders and DMOs using standard sustainability reporting.
- Brief operations and guiding teams on sustainable delivery.
- Handle overtourism, community relations and cultural heritage protection.
- Deliver a capstone sustainability programme for a live partner.
Who This Course Is For
- Tourism coordinators moving up into product or sustainability lead roles.
- Tour operator staff formalising sustainable operations practice.
- Destination management organisation officers.
- International tourism graduates seeking a UK Level 5 credential.
Career Pathways
- Sustainable Tourism Consultant
- Tourism Manager (Sustainability)
- Destination Marketing Manager
- Tour Operator (Sustainable Products)
- Travel Consultant (Responsible Travel)
- Tourism Board Officer
- Destination Sustainability Lead
The LSCAHM careers service runs at least one industry-careers day each academic year with UK tour operators, destination management organisations and tourism boards, and refreshes the sustainable tourism curriculum against ITT and Tourism Society guidance.
Entry Requirements
- A relevant Diploma (Level 4), Advanced Diploma or comparable tourism qualification.
- GCSE English at grade 4/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C or equivalent.
- IELTS 6.0 overall (no band below 5.5) for non-native English speakers.
- One academic or professional reference.
- Working professionals moving from tour coordinator, product officer or destination roles into sustainability leadership are welcomed.
Why Study at LSCAHM
The London School of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management is a specialist division of Harold International College of London teaching in small, tutor-visible cohorts. LSCAHM reads tourism, hospitality, culinary and food business as one working system, giving sustainable tourism students a supply-chain-wide view of the sector.
Central London places UKinbound, the Institute of Travel & Tourism, the Tourism Society and ABTA within a short tube ride of every classroom.
Apply for Higher Diploma in Sustainable Tourism
Complete a Higher Diploma at LSCAHM and articulate into a UK Bachelor's top-up in the same discipline. Credit transfer for the Higher Diploma in Sustainable Tourism is confirmed at enrolment. Enrol Now.
