BA in Tourism Policy and Governance
Course Overview
The BA in Tourism Policy and Governance is a full honours undergraduate degree running over 36 months, with top-up routes for LSTITM Higher Diploma holders. It is aligned with the Tourism Society, WTTC and Chartered Management Institute (CMI) reference standards for tourism policy practice.
By graduation, students can join UK and international tourism policy teams, brief ministers and executive directors and coordinate destination governance programmes with confidence.
Assessment on the BA in Tourism Policy and Governance spans coursework, examinations, a supervised placement portfolio in a policy or regulator team and a full honours dissertation. Placement year is undertaken with LSTITM partner tourism boards and think tanks across London, and dissertation topics are agreed early so students can align policy placement work with their final research question.
Key Features
- Delivered on-campus in London, online and via distance learning
- Curriculum aligned with Tourism Society, WTTC and CMI references
- Full honours BA with a placement year in a policy or regulator team
- Live seminars on tourism regulation, policy and governance frameworks
- Case studies from UK, EU and multilateral tourism policy programmes
- Applied policy research methods and dissertation module
- Career service for policy officer and governance analyst tracks
- Placement year hosted with LSTITM partner tourism boards and think tanks
- Full honours dissertation supervised by LSTITM academic faculty
What You Will Learn
- Tourism policy vocabulary from Green Paper to statutory instrument
- Destination governance frameworks including DMO boards and mayoral bodies
- Tourism regulation across ATOL, ABTA and consumer protection
- Policy research methods including desk research and stakeholder interviews
- Impact assessment and economic-analysis basics for tourism policy
- Ethics, transparency and accountability in tourism governance
- Sustainability, Net Zero and destination stewardship in policy
- Briefing and speech-writing for tourism policy stakeholders
- Independent research design for policy work including literature review chapters
- Academic writing at honours level with dissertation-quality citation practice
- Consultancy-style policy report authoring for a real UK destination brief
Who This Course Is For
- A-Level, IB or overseas equivalent completers targeting tourism policy
- Higher Diploma holders seeking a full honours policy top-up
- International learners targeting UK policy think tanks and boards
- Career changers with public administration or research experience
- Aspiring tourism policy officers in UK and international governments
Career Pathways
- Tourism Policy Officer
- Tourism Development Officer (Policy)
- Tourism Research Analyst (Policy)
- Destination Manager (Governance)
- Cultural Tourism Officer
- Tourism Board Coordinator (Governance)
- Heritage Tourism Manager
LSTITM's careers service connects BA students with policy team recruiters at UK tourism boards, think tanks and multilateral bodies, plus interview coaching for policy roles.
BA in Tourism Policy and Governance students also benefit from an annual policy showcase where returning placement-year students present their year in a UK tourism board, think tank or ministry to first and second-year students. Working policy leads attend the showcase and often recruit final-year students into policy analyst positions. Distance-learning students join by video and receive policy portfolios shared under agreement. Past graduates consistently cite the policy showcase as the feature that most helped them land their first graduate policy role.
Entry Requirements
- A-Levels (BBC or above) or IB (26+ points) or overseas equivalents
- A completed Higher Diploma or Advanced Diploma for top-up routes
- IELTS 6.0 overall (no band under 5.5) or equivalent English proficiency
- Personal statement outlining career objectives in tourism policy
- Two academic or professional references
Applicants who narrowly miss the IELTS 6.0 threshold can take LSTITM's pre-sessional English support before joining the BA in Tourism Policy and Governance, and international applicants receive a personal admissions reply within three working days. Higher Diploma holders should note that top-up routes credit prior policy study directly into the degree so the BA in Tourism Policy and Governance can be completed in twelve to fifteen months on the top-up track.
Why Study at LSTITM
LSTITM is the London School of Tourism and International Travel Management, a specialist division of Harold International College of London. Every LSTITM programme is aligned with the Tourism Society, ITT, ABTA, CIM and UKHospitality reference frameworks.
Our curriculum is written by former destination directors, policy advisors and consulting partners and delivered across three flexible modes with dedicated career support.
Bachelor graduates from the LSTITM policy route leave with a full honours degree, a policy or governance placement year on their CV, a dissertation on record and a warm network across UK tourism boards, think tanks and multilateral bodies. This combination is deliberately designed to compete on level terms with graduates of traditional UK policy universities.
Apply for BA in Tourism Policy and Governance
Applications are open now for the next intake of the BA in Tourism Policy and Governance. Apply for your full LSTITM undergraduate tourism degree and start a graduate-track career in tourism policy. Termly intakes are open across on-campus, online and distance-learning modes and the LSTITM admissions team responds to every application within three working days. Applications for the placement-year cohort should be submitted before the published cut-off to guarantee a policy placement match. Enrol Now.
