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2020/2021

Theme Parks and Holiday Entertainment

Code: 103755 ECTS Credits: 3
Degree Type Year Semester
2502904 Hotel Management OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Blanca Par López-Pinto
Email:
Blanca.Par@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
english (eng)
Some groups entirely in English:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Prerequisites

This course has no prerequisites.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This subject has as learning objective the understanding of the characteristics and general management of leisure and entertainment companies and of theme parks.

This course is divided into two parts:

  1. General knowledge related to the basic concepts of Leisure, Entertainment and Theme Parks.
  2. Design and programming of activities and/or actions for tourist entertainment.

 

This course will guide the students in:

  1. Understanding the concepts of leisure, entertainment and theme parks.
  2. Detecting, analyzing and evaluating the potential of entertainment and leisure for the tourism and the theme parks' industries.
  3. Numbering and describing each of the phases in the process of planning, designing and programming leisure activities.
  4. Designing and planning innovative leisure programs for tourism entertainment business.
  5. Presenting the Final Project demonstrating a sufficient level of communication, and capturing and maintaining the interest of the audience throughout the presentation.

Competences

  • Demonstrate an understanding and apply the principles of scientific method in research in the hotel and catering sector.
  • Demonstrate ethical behaviour is social relations and the ability to adapt to different intercultural situations.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the dynamic and evolutionary nature of the hotel and catering industry and the new leisure industry.
  • Develop a capacity for independent learning.
  • Develop and apply policies of internationalisation and sustainable growth in the companies in the sector.
  • Manage communication techniques at all levels.
  • Plan and manage activities based on quality and sustainability.
  • Work in teams.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Demonstrate ethical behaviour is social relations and the ability to adapt to different intercultural situations.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of the dynamic and evolutionary character of the hotel and catering industry and the new leisure society.
  3. Develop a capacity for independent learning.
  4. Identify and apply basic strategic elements in the internationalisation process of activities in the hotel sector.
  5. Manage communication techniques at all levels.
  6. Plan and manage activities based on quality and sustainability.
  7. Use research methods and techniques in the study of tourism and hotel management.
  8. Work in teams.

Content

Theme 1. Leisure:

  • Evolution of the concept of leisure throughout history
  • Leisure and the tourist market

Theme 2. Tourism entertainment:

  • concept and objectives
  • The tourist entertainer: professional profile

Theme 3. Theme parks:

  • Definition and characteristics
  • Structure and organization

Theme 4. Design and programming:

  • Planning, implementing, and evaluating leisure programs.

Methodology

The teaching of the subject combines theoretical and practical work. To ensure a successful learning, the student must actively participate throughout the course. The teaching methods used stimulate and invite the student to participate in the discovery of the course content and become central to their own learning process.

The virtual campus -MOODLE- is a channel of communication between student and lecturer and vice-versa (alerts, documents, submissions, presentation calendar for Final Projects, virtual tutorials, etc.)

All students enrolled on this course are obliged and have the responsibility to periodically consult the different alerts, materials, projects and other content on the virtual campus. All work submitted or tutorial consultations should be carried out from and in the course space of the virtual campus -MOODLE.

Assignments and Final Project: students must submit written work through MOODLE. Submissions will not be accepted after deadline. Students must keep a back-up copy of all work presented.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Case study resolution 0.5 0.02 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 7
Oral presentations 6 0.24 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 8, 7
Study 8 0.32 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 7
Theory 20 0.8 2, 5, 4
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials 12 0.48 2, 3, 5, 4
Type: Autonomous      
Assignments completion 20 0.8 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 8, 7
Case study resolution 6 0.24 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 8, 7

Assessment

Evaluation

CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT:

1) Individual assignment and partial exam:

  • Individual work (25%)
  • Partial exam (30%)
  • Voluntary assignments (5%)

2)Final Project:

  • Group work: Final Project (40%)

Individual assignment and partial exam: students will carry out one individual assignment which must be submited on moodle and presented (if required). The individual assignment accounts for 25% of the final grade. The partial exam accounts for 30% of the final grade.

Final Project (group work): all students will plan and design an innovative entertainment program for an existing establishment or organization (theme parks or other recreational sites and planned events, hotels, campsites, resorts, cruisers, etc.).  The stages for preparing and presenting it will be posted throughout the course on the Virtual Campus of the Autònoma Interactiva. This Final Project will serve both for the final assessment and as a real integrated practice of all the contents worked during the course. The Final Project accounts for 40% of the final grade.

Sine qua non condition for obtaining credit for this course: to pass the course, students must obtain a final grade of ≥ 5 (out of 10) on both parts,

1) the individual assignment and the partial exam, and

2) the Final Project.

The final grade, when passing both parts, is then the weighted average of the group (FP) and the individual grades (IA + PE).

Voluntary assignments: students can conduct voluntary assignments in order to improve their mark. Voluntary assignments will be announced in due course. These assignments account for a total of 5%. 

 

The evaluation of this course consists of the following system:

THREE OPTIONS OF ASSESSMENT

A)   CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT: Final Project (40%), partial exam (30%) individual assignment (25%) and voluntary assignments (5%), described above.

If the student does not pass the course through the continuous assessment system, he/she will be evaluated by the single assessment system, not considering any of the grades previously obtained.

 

B)   SINGLE ASSESSMENT: Final exam (all content covered in the course). Date and time established by the Official Programming of EUTDH according to the academic calendar. There will be only one type of final exam, having no difference between students who have not successfully completed the Continuous Assessment system and those who have not followed it. To be eligible to perform the final exam, it is required to submit and pass a prior compulsory work.

 

C)   RE-EVALUATION: Date and time established by the Official Programming of EUTDH according to the academic calendar. Only addressed to students obtaining a grade between 3.5 and 4.9 in Single Assessment. The maximum possible grade to be obtained will not exceed 5. Nature of the evaluation to be defined.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Final Project 40% 0.5 0.02 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 8, 7
Individual assignment 25% 0 0 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 7
Partial exam 30% 2 0.08 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 7
Voluntary assignments 5% 0 0 1, 3, 4, 6

Bibliography

  • O’Connell, Timothy S. & Cuthberston, Brent (Human Kinetics, 2009): Group dynamics in recreation and leisure (Temas 2 y 4)
  • Thyne, Maree & Laws, Eric (eds., 2004): Hospitality tourism and lifestyle concepts. Implications for quality management and customer satisfaction, New York: The Harworth Hospitality Press (Temas 1-4)