Middlesex University Dubai offers five honours programmes

Tourism management programmes are continuing to be very popular as they attract a diverse range of students. This popularity is due to the maturing of tourism and hospitality management as a significant area of study. The tourism industry is arguably the largest industry in the world and therefore significant proportions of the working population are in some way connected to the tourism industry, whether directly or indirectly.

The tourism industry is deeply associated with many spheres: Event and Festival Management; Banking and Finance; Retail Industries; Hospitality and Hotel Management; Airline Industry and Transport Management; Cultural Industries; Arts and Media Industries; Facilities Management; Sport and Leisure Industries; and the Museum and Heritage Industry.

Many developing countries are now embracing tourism management education, especially in regions where the tourism industry has been firmly established. Degree programmes are significantly embarking on ways to balance business and management knowledge with sector specific skills in the curriculum at undergraduate level. Middlesex University Dubai is pioneering the expansion of its tourism management programmes, where there are five programmes running at the Dubai Campus: BA Honours in International Tourism Management and Marketing; BA Honours in International Tourism Management with Human Resource Management; BA in Honours in International Tourism Management with Business; BA Honours in Hospitality Management (a third year top-up degree); and BA Honours in Hospitality Management with Tourism (a third year top-up degree).

Dr. Marcus Stephenson, Associate Professor of Tourism Management at Middlesex Dubai, explores the benefits of studying tourism management at university level:

"Essentially, tourism management is a service sector industry and, as such, employers from a whole variety of industries, not just tourism and hospitality, but in banking, insurance, finance and retail, are usually highly enthusiastic in taking on graduates who have degrees in tourism management. I have come across numerous situations and cases where my former students have informed me that their tourism management degrees have been highly sought after by employers. This does not surprise me as their knowledge of the service sector, as well as the key competences and skills they have learnt in relation to this sector, are essential and unique qualities that employers often look at in an extremely favourable and positive light"

The growth and changes of the international tourism industry have been paralleled by opportunities to study both its academic and applied aspects. Dr. Stephenson also emphasises that "the suite of tourism degrees at Middlesex features curricula that integrate management theory and practices, and social scientific models and approaches". This year, Middlesex University Dubai moved into the provision of 'event management education', where it now offers the much sought after professional programme known as the 'Executive Certificate in Event Management'.

The Dubai campus of Middlesex University London, which opened in January 2005, has over 1,300 students from over 70 nationalities and offers 25 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in a wide variety of subject areas. The origins of Middlesex University in London date back to 1878 and it is one of only a handful UK universities to have been awarded three Queen's anniversary prizes. In 2007, Middlesex was ranked third in London for Teaching and Learning (HEFCE) and the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) rated research at Middlesex as 'Top 10 among new UK universities'. The Dubai campus is an integral part of Middlesex University UK and is subject to the same rigorous quality assurance procedures that have in 2009 earned Middlesex the highest possible rating from the UK's Quality Assurance Agency.