Courses

Tourism Economics

General

Course Contents

  1. Chronological overview of the tourism phenomenon.
  2. Conceptual approaches.
  3. Theories of tourist demand – tourist flows.
  4. Seasonality and determinants of tourism demand.
  5. Typologies, forecasts and trends.
  6. The tourist product and its characteristics.
  7. Modern types of products and spatial structure of the tourist offer.
  8. Economic organization of businesses and the intermediaries of the tourist circuit.
  9. Economic analysis, foreign exchange receipts and the effects on the balance of payments.
  10. Consumption, production, added value and inflationary trends.
  11. Investments, employment and the macroeconomic role of the state.
  12. Methods of estimating and measuring the effects of tourism.
  13. Summary, Recap.

Educational Goals

The purpose of the course is for students to get to know and understand the tourism sector and its contribution to economic development. In particular, students will learn about the following topics: i) theories of tourist demand and tourist flows, ii) seasonality and determinants of tourist demand, iii) typologies, forecasts and trends, iv) the tourist product and its characteristics, v) modern types of products and spatial structure of the tourism offer, vi) economic organization of businesses and intermediaries of the tourism circuit, vii) economic analysis, foreign exchange receipts and the effects on the balance of payments. The objectives of the course are for students to:

  • Understand the theories of tourism demand – tourist flows, seasonality and tourism demand factors, the tourism product and its characteristics.
  • Acquire the skills to exploit the internet for the investigation of tourist data and sizes.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Know the modern types of tourist products and the factors of spatial structure of the tourist offer, the economic organization of businesses and intermediaries of the tourist circuit.
  • Understand economic analysis, foreign exchange receipts and the effects on the balance of payments.
  • Analyze the methods of estimating and measuring the effects of tourism.
  • Develop the necessary knowledge in issues of tourism, its characteristics and tourist businesses.
  • Acquire the necessary skills to support the agencies and businesses of the tourism sector.
  • Develop the necessary knowledge and skills in issues of national and international tourism environment, for further studies at postgraduate level.

General Skills

  • Independent work.
  • Search for, analysis and synthesis of data and information, with the use of the necessary technology.
  • Decision making.
  • Project planning and management.

Teaching Methods

  • In the classroom, face to face.

Use of ICT means

  • Basic software (windows, word, power point, the web, etc.).
  • Support of learning process through the electronic platform / e-class.

Teaching Organization

ActivitySemester workload
Lectures26
Practice Works13
Assignement (Essay writing)20
Independent Study91
Total150

Students Evaluation

Written final exams (60%) that may include:

  • Judgemental questions.
  • Short answer questions.
  • Application exercises.
  • Composite theoratical questions.

In each question, corresponding evaluation points are specified.
Optional assignment (Essay writing and presentation) corresponds to 40% of the final grade.

Recommended Bibliography

  1. Λαγός, Δ. (2005). Τουριστική οικονομική, Εκδόσεις Κριτική, Αθήνα.
  2. Βαρβαρέσος, Σ. (2008). Οικονομική του Τουρισμού, Εννοιολογικές, Θεωρητικές και Μεθοδολογικές Προσεγγίσεις, Εκδόσεις Προπομπός, Αθήνα.
  3. Frechtling, D. (2012). Forecasting Tourism Demand, Routledge, Oxford.

Related Research Journals

  1. Tourism Economics.
  2. Tourism Management.
  3. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.