Wellbeing Tourism and Culture Tourism (5cr)

Objectives (course unit)

The course introduces wellbeing and culture tourism as forms of tourism and different aspects of them in tourism business. It highlights the characteristics and potential of each form of tourism. The course clarifies their importance and meaning and justifies their significance in contemporary society and tourism business. The course familiarizes students with academic research conducted within the field.

After completing the course, the students will be able to:

Understand the forms and characteristics of wellbeing and culture tourism.
Understand the meaning of wellbeing and culture in tourism business in modern societies.
Learn the potential to develop wellbeing and culture tourism business.
Know relevant research conducted within the field.

Content (course unit)

What is wellbeing and culture tourism about?
What are the needs of tourists considering wellbeing and culture services in tourism business?
What are the potentials within wellbeing and culture tourism?
What are the forms of wellbeing and culture in tourism business?
What topics and discussions have been researched within the field?
How to develop wellbeing and culture tourism business in cooperation with various organizations, enterprises and entrepreneurs?

Exam schedules

No exam
Team working in Tabula and individual essay

Assessment methods and criteria

Team work task, company co-operation 30%
Individual task, essay 70%

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

Lectures and Tabula discussion, company co-operation, team working, individual studying, report writing

Learning materials

Articles presented in course Tabula:
Haugen, 2010: Cultural Tourism: Does It Help or Exploit Local Communities?
Palmer, 2013: Why Cultural Tourism is not a Quick Fix
Konu, Tuohino, Björk, 2011: Wellbeing Tourism in Finland. Finland as a competitive Wellbeing Tourism Destination
Yeung, 2013: Wellness Tourism is a Growth Opportunity Worldwide
+ literture searched by students individually
Recommended: Smith, Melanie K., 2003: Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies
Lecture slides in Tabula

Student workload

5 cr = 135h
Lectures 12h
Studying Tabula articles 10h
Team working 73h:
organizing team working, selecting company, designing interview questions, contacting/interviewing companies, summary report of interviews, designing topic for Tabula discussion and starting discussion
Individual task, Essay 40h:
searching and studying literature/references, designing essay topic and structure, writing essay

Content scheduling

Week 10: Introduction lecture, team and task setting, Tabula articles studying, literature searching
Week 11: Tabula articles studying, literature searching, designing interview questions for a company, selecting company for individual task
Week 12: visit to Holiday Club Tampere Spa (all together), team working
Week 13: Check point meeting, team working
Week 14: teams presenting Holiday Club Tampere Spa results, designing Tabula discussion topic
Week 15: designing Tabula discussion topic and discussion, on 13.4. in Tabula, working on individual essay
week 16: working on individual essay, essay in Tabula on 22.4. latest
week 15


team working: company selection, interview questions design, (interviewing companies), literature searching
Week 14: Teams presenting literature found, companies selected, interview questions (interview results), fixing interview questions
Week 15: Company presentation at Tamk, conducting the interviews, wrting summary report of interviws
Week 16: Tabula net discussions, each team and individually. Start writing individual essay
Weeks 16-18 writing individual essay, essay returning

Completion alternatives

Must be discussed with teacher beforehand

Practical training and working life cooperation

Co-operation with selected companies, interviewing the company, writing an essay

International connections

Team work: student group is international, selected company could be international

Further information

Lectures are extremely important to attend, starting 9.3.2015 COMPULSORY
For assessment, see also the course objectives and contents description!

Assessment criteria - fail (0) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

No participating team working and net discussion
Tasks are not returned or they are late
Course topics and tasks are not understood or proceedings include major problems and mistakes, task instructions are not followed

Assessment criteria - satisfactory (1-2) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

Student has participated team working and net discussion
Student is partly understanding the course contents and relevant concepts, there are mistakes in applying them in tasks or it has been done briefly/superficially.
Student is applying Tabula material partly or only them, not references searched on own for essay writing or in Tabula net discussion. The structure of essay is poor or too short.
Student is able to analyse/make comments on net discussion briefly, without personal ideas or applying references
There are mistakes in applying Tamk report instructions in essay writing and no own ideas are presented

Assessment criteria - good (3-4) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

Student is uderstanding the course contents and relevant concepts and is applying them fluently when conducting the tasks. In addition to Tabula material, student is also applying other references (2-3) suitable for essay writing. Essay topic and structure is well designed and Tamk report instructions mainly followed. Own ideas are included in tasks. Tabula net discussion is including ideas from references and own experience.

Assessment criteria - excellent (5) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

Student has a holistic understanding of course contents and relevant concepts and is able to discuss them deeply and in professional way.
Student is able to combine references (4-) and personal ideas into creative academic discussion, both in essay and Tabula net discussion. There are no difficulties in applying Tamk report writing instructions.