Higher Diploma in Tourism Policy Strategy
Course Overview
The Higher Diploma in Tourism Policy Strategy is a 15 to 18-month LSTITM programme designed as the articulation route between senior operational policy analysts and managerial tourism-strategy roles. Sitting within the Tourism Business, Marketing and Operations department, this Higher Diploma is aligned with references from CIM, CMI, the Tourism Society and UKHospitality.
By graduation you will be able to design a tourism policy-strategy portfolio, coordinate cross-department policy activity, brief senior sponsors on trade-offs, and act as the primary strategy interface with board committees and industry federations. You will also complete a supervised senior project on a real policy-strategy question and defend the resulting portfolio and prioritisation rationale in a tutor-led senior review at end-point assessment.
The Higher Diploma places particular weight on scenario reasoning: the ability to hold two or three plausible tourism futures in mind at once and to communicate what changes and what stays the same across each. This is what most senior tourism strategy roles genuinely require, and it is what makes LSTITM Higher Diploma graduates able to run productive planning sessions from day one.
Key Features
- Articulation-focused Higher Diploma bridging Level 5 to honours-level strategy practice
- Alignment with CIM, CMI, Tourism Society and UKHospitality references
- Case studies from national, regional and international tourism strategy work
- Coaching on strategy design, trade-offs and portfolio prioritisation
- Introduction to scenario planning and long-horizon policy modelling
- Guest sessions from tourism-strategy leads at UK boards and consultancies
What You Will Learn
- Design a tourism policy-strategy portfolio for a board or DMO
- Coordinate cross-department policy and strategy activity
- Analyse strategic trade-offs, opportunity costs and downside risk
- Manage scenario-planning exercises and long-horizon forecasts
- Interpret WTTC, UKHospitality and open tourism data at senior level
- Follow governance, safeguarding and inclusion frameworks
- Present strategy briefings to boards, sponsors and public forums
- Coach advanced-diploma staff through strategy routines and controls
Who This Course Is For
- Advanced Diploma graduates targeting tourism-strategy roles
- Senior DMO and tourism-board staff progressing to strategy-lead positions
- Consultancy partners specialising in tourism policy-strategy
- International applicants with 3+ years of tourism supervisory experience
Career Pathways
- Tourism Consultant on strategy briefs at London consultancies
- Tourism Business Development Manager on strategic portfolios
- Product Manager (Tourism) on strategy-driven pipelines
- Tourism Communications Manager on strategy narratives
- Loyalty and CRM Manager on strategy-led programmes
- Tourism Category Manager on strategy-led ranging
LSTITM's careers service supports Higher Diploma graduates with tailored CV coaching, LinkedIn optimisation and warm introductions to UK tourism boards, consultancies and destination-marketing agencies. Graduates progressing into an LSTITM honours top-up degree continue to receive careers coaching and are frequently placed into head-of-strategy positions at UK national and regional tourism partnerships, chain tour operators and specialist strategy consultancies within twelve months. Assessment on the Higher Diploma in policy strategy uses a supervised senior project, a scenario-planning submission and a defended board-simulation briefing, giving graduates managerial-workplace-ready evidence for honours and executive progression. Optional deep-dive masterclasses cover long-horizon tourism forecasting, systems-thinking workshops and stress-testing plans against politically sensitive assumptions. Students also present short work-in-progress talks each term to build senior-audience presentation craft alongside strategy technique for progression conversations and future executive interviews.
Entry Requirements
- A completed Advanced Diploma or equivalent Level 5 tourism qualification
- Alternatively, 3+ years of supervisory tourism or strategy experience with a portfolio statement
- IELTS 6.0 or equivalent English proficiency for international applicants
- Two academic or professional references
- Interview with the LSTITM admissions team
Why Study at LSTITM
LSTITM is the specialist tourism division of Harold International College of London. Every LSTITM programme is aligned with recognised UK bodies including the Tourism Society, ITT, ABTA, CIM, CMI and UKHospitality, giving graduates industry-referenced study behind them.
Higher Diploma students are taught by former strategy directors, policy consultants and destination leads, and every route is supported by LSTITM's careers service and its network of London-based tourism consultancies, boards and DMOs.
Policy-strategy Higher Diploma candidates on the LSTITM route benefit from a rotating simulation programme covering national, regional and city-level policy environments. This structured contact with different governance layers gives graduates a broad, portable strategy fluency that is difficult to build inside a single organisation. Alumni-in-residence sessions extend the support network, connecting current cohorts with recent Higher Diploma graduates now leading policy-strategy portfolios at UK national bodies, regional partnerships and specialist tourism-strategy consultancies.
Apply for Higher Diploma in Tourism Policy Strategy
Applications for the Higher Diploma in Tourism Policy Strategy are reviewed on a rolling basis and successful graduates articulate cleanly into LSTITM top-up honours routes. The LSTITM admissions team welcomes short pre-application discussions so policy-strategy candidates can align scenario-heavy modules with real budget-setting and forward-plan windows in their organisation. International candidates receive additional guidance on visa, English-language evidence and payment routes tailored to their country of residence, and admissions interviews can be arranged in multiple time zones. Complete your operational-to-managerial articulation with LSTITM by submitting your online application today. Enrol Now
