Advanced Diploma in Tourism Innovation and Design
Course Overview
The Advanced Diploma in Tourism Innovation and Design is a UK Level 5-equivalent LSTITM programme delivered over 12 to 15 months, focused on the senior operational discipline of designing new tourism products, experiences and destination interventions. Sitting within the Tourism and Destination Management department, it is aligned with references from the Tourism Society, ITT, CIM and WTTC, giving graduates a credible language for design-led tourism practice.
By graduation you will be able to lead a small innovation team, structure a design sprint for a tourism product or attraction, budget and evaluate pilots, and present business cases to senior tourism leaders with confidence. You will also complete a supervised sprint on a real tourism brief, prepare a pilot evaluation pack, and present a business-case recommendation to a tutor panel at end-point assessment.
The Advanced Diploma treats innovation as an operational discipline, not a creative flourish. Every module lands with usable artefacts: a design brief, a sprint plan, a service blueprint, a pilot proposal, a lessons-learned pack. Graduates leave with a folder of workplace-ready tools that reduce ramp-up time in their first innovation-lead role at a DMO, tour operator or consultancy.
Key Features
- UK Level 5-equivalent Advanced Diploma articulating into LSTITM Higher Diploma routes
- Alignment with Tourism Society, ITT, CIM and WTTC references
- Design-sprint labs on tourism product, attraction and route innovation
- Coaching on stakeholder co-design and pilot evaluation
- Introduction to service blueprinting and experience prototyping
- Industry-guest sessions from London innovation leads and consultants
What You Will Learn
- Lead a small tourism innovation team through a design sprint
- Facilitate stakeholder co-design workshops for destination projects
- Build service blueprints for new tourism products and attractions
- Prototype and test experiences in low-risk pilot environments
- Prepare budgets and evaluation plans for tourism pilots
- Analyse pilot data and shape rollout, iteration or exit decisions
- Present innovation business cases to senior tourism leaders
- Coach diploma-level staff through design and evaluation routines
Who This Course Is For
- Tourism supervisors moving into innovation and design roles
- Product managers extending into destination design work
- DMO staff leading pilot projects and route innovation
- International applicants with a Level 4 tourism qualification progressing to Level 5
Career Pathways
- Destination Manager leading innovation and design work
- Tourism Product Manager on new product pipelines
- Tourism Development Officer on innovation programmes
- Sustainable Tourism Officer on regenerative product design
- Tourism Board Coordinator on pilot and evaluation projects
- Heritage Tourism Manager on experience design programmes
LSTITM's careers service provides tailored CV coaching, LinkedIn optimisation and warm introductions to London tourism boards, DMCs and innovation consultancies for Advanced Diploma graduates. Graduates progressing into an LSTITM Higher Diploma continue to benefit from careers support and often take on department-head innovation and product-design roles at national tourism boards, regional destination organisations and specialist experience-design consultancies. Assessment on the innovation and design Advanced Diploma uses a supervised design-sprint project, a service-blueprint submission and a defended business-case presentation, giving graduates senior-workplace-ready evidence for progression conversations.
Entry Requirements
- A completed LSTITM Diploma or equivalent Level 4 tourism qualification
- Alternatively, 2+ years of relevant tourism or travel-industry experience with a statement of purpose
- IELTS 6.0 or equivalent English proficiency for international applicants
- Two academic or professional references
- Access to a computer and reliable internet for online delivery of the Advanced Diploma
Why Study at LSTITM
LSTITM is Harold International College of London's specialist tourism division, delivering destination, business, systems and strategic tourism programmes. Every LSTITM route is aligned with recognised UK bodies including the Tourism Society, ITT, ABTA, CIM and UKHospitality.
Advanced Diploma students are taught by former destination directors, innovation leads and consultants, and every route is supported by dedicated LSTITM careers coaching with introductions to London tourism boards, DMCs and destination-marketing agencies.
Innovation-focused Advanced Diploma students on the LSTITM route benefit from a rotating panel of practitioner-in-residence sessions where guest innovators from London tour operators, DMOs and attractions bring live briefs to the room. This turns the Advanced Diploma into a genuine bridge between structured teaching and workplace practice, and it is what makes graduates confident when they step into an innovation-lead role. Alumni sessions extend this network further, connecting current cohorts with recent Advanced Diploma graduates who now lead product-innovation and destination-design pipelines at national tourism boards and specialist experience-design consultancies.
Apply for Advanced Diploma in Tourism Innovation and Design
Applications for the Advanced Diploma in Tourism Innovation and Design are reviewed on a rolling basis and successful graduates articulate cleanly into LSTITM Higher Diploma and honours-degree routes. The LSTITM admissions team welcomes short pre-application conversations to help innovation-focused candidates plan sprint-heavy modules around live project commitments in their current organisation. International candidates receive additional guidance on visa, English-language evidence and payment routes tailored to their country of residence, and pre-application discussions can be arranged in multiple time zones. Progress into supervisory and strategic tourism practice by submitting your online application today. Enrol Now
