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The aims of this course are to develop an awareness of the historical and contemporary environment in which special interest tourism has developed and operates; to provide an understanding of the typologies of special interest tourism products and the type of visitors they attract. The course will investigate differential tourist motivations for a variety of special interest tourism sectors.
The course aims to provide knowledge and understanding of the impacts of special interest tourisms within critical frameworks of investigation. Different approaches to the planning and management of special interest tourism will be investigated as well as its sustainability and future directions within the tourism sector.

On successful completion of this course a student will be able to:

1 Çï¿ûÊÓƵ the contemporary special interest tourism sector through an assessment of its history, context and current significance in the industry.
2 Investigate and assess the key special interest tourism products, consumers and their interrelationships.
3 Evaluate the impacts of special interest tourism in different contexts and appraise how approaches to development and planning affect appropriate management of the sector.

• Concepts, contexts and contemporary scenarios in Niche Tourism
• Understanding the breadth of niche tourism provision possibilities including; Culture and Tourism: heritage, arts, film and media tourism; Tourism and the City: urban, world city tourism, business and events tourism; Tourism and Landscape: nature based tourism, adventure tourism; Tourism and the Self: wellbeing tourism, health and medical tourism, religious/spiritual tourism; Ethics and Niche Tourism: slum tourism, backpacker tourism, gap-year tourism, dark tourism, other new and emerging tourism trends.
• Special Interest tourists; characteristics and motivations.
• Approaches to special interest tourism development; community and social tourism strategies; case studies.
• Managing the impacts of special interest tourism; contemporary and future planning and policy agendas.

This module will be taught through a variety of learning modes; interactive lectures and tutorials using both literature-based analyses and multi-media content. In addition, short local field-visits to relevant sites will be used to support case studies, and guest speakers will be invited to talk about special interest tourism experiences from an industry perspective.

Summative Report - 100% weighting, 40% pass mark.
Outline Details - Students will asked to critically assess the characteristics of special interest tourism and key contemporary trends; this will be followed by an in-depth analysis of ONE selected type of Special Interest Tourism for product, visitor, case-study, impact and management analysis. 3,000 words.

Students are not required to pass all elements of summative assessment in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment - Students will be asked to give a formative non-marked oral presentation mid way through the module where they summarise the characteristics of Special Interest Tourism in general, and then present an overview of their chosen typology of Special Interest Tourism for peer and staff oral feedback. In addition, a specified ‘assessment support tutorial’ will be scheduled in the course timetable.