Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences : Tourism

Tourism, Pietarsaari

Examination	Bachelor of Hospitality Management
Length	210 credits
Duration	3,5 years
Places	40
Application period	Additional application 31 May - 30 June 2010. Application form Instructions
Language skills	The applicants' language skills will be tested. More information about language tests and test dates: IELTS & TOEFL.

General

Come and get diverse know-how in tourism, as well as in business, at the same time as you get acquainted with working life in practice! Our degree programme in English will provide you with the skills to function in sales, planning and developing tasks in tourism companies and organizations, as well as sufficient know-how to become an entrepreneur in tourism.

You may include tasks for tourism companies and organizations in your studies; these tasks could be working with fairs, tasks in preparation for seminars, and short written tasks like surveys, registers, brochures, leaflets and guides.

Besides, you can participate in tourism projects and write your thesis on assignment from the tourism trade. Our objective is that you, after graduation, are in command of the English, Finnish and Swedish written and oral communication skills required for the profession.

In addition, you have the possibility to reach the level where you manage typical written communication and interaction situations in at least two more languages. The customer service skills and cultural knowledge acquired through the degree programme will support you and your language learning is furthermore deepened through language immersion pedagogics.

If you choose to, its possible to combine your studies with courses in institutions of higher education abroad. There are dozens of international partners, among others Escola Universitaria de Turisme in Barcelona in Spain and Shanghai Normal University in China.

Language courses in Pietarsaari Unit:
Finnish, Swedish, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Chinese and Russian.

Structure of the studies

Structure of the Programme

Structure of the Courses

Employment opportunities

After graduation, you could work in travel agencies, for example, or in the field of passenger traffic, in domestic or international organizations and in different tasks in the service industry.

Occupational titles:

sales representative
travel agent
travelling manager
project manager
travelling secretary
hotel manager
restaurant manager
travel agency manager
congress manager
congress secretary
sales and marketing secretary
tourism entrepreneur
planner of program services
planner of tourism events
trainer
consultant

A Student Story

Alexandra has attended exhibitions during her studies

I'm studying tourism for the first year at Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences, in the Unit of Pietarsaari. Two of the main reasons why I chose to study at COU are the international contacts, but also the location of the school. Pietarsaari is namely located on the beautiful west coast of Finland, in the town of Pietarsaari. With its number of 19 500 friendly inhabitants, you will quickly feel at home in the town.

Internationalization is one of the main principles at COU. This university wants you to get to know the world, at the same time as the world gets to know you. Examples of this are the guest lecturers from all around the world who visit the University of Applied Sciences, the great amount of foreign students and the opportunity to study or practice abroad. I, for example, am going to study a couple of months in Iceland next year.

As a student at COU, you will also be a member of different teams. There are teams who arrange trips, for example, teams who take care of the bookstore and teams who market the school. As a member in a marketing team, I have been representing Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences at many exhibitions.

The Degree Programme in Tourism offers you a wide range of courses in the fields of tourism, languages, entrepreneurship and leadership. Every compulsory course has connections to other courses that are going at the same time, so that you'll get the most out of every course. So, by the time of your graduation, you will be an expert in the field of tourism, as a Bachelor of Hospitality Management.

Alexandra Stenvall
Tourism

Extra Material