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Skills in the Tourism Sector

Code: 101190 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500894 Tourism OB 2

Contact

Name:
Carmen Ruiz Aguado
Email:
carmen.ruiza@uab.cat

Teachers

Sonia García Jimènez

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites.


Objectives and Contextualisation

This subject aims to provide second year students taking the Degree in Tourism with the computing skills necessary to carry out their work within tourism-sector companies, specifically within the subsector of intermediations and accommodation.  This subject work on the basic Amadeus Global Distribution System (GDS) providing continuation with the optional subject  e-commerce in tourism.

On completing this subject, students should be able to:

  • Be familiar with the basic functioning of a GDS: Amadeus.
  • Learn to search and analyse air transport services and fares offered by the airlines before select the best option no fit the specific customer’s needs.
  • Know how to develop all the process to generate an air transport reservation with a global distribution system
  • Be familiar with the basic functioning of a hotel-management software (PMS).
  • Be familiar with the basic functioning of a travel agency-management software (Front Office).
  • Apply communication techniques relevant to the tourism sector respecting diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations
  • Learn the basic Revenue Management principles. 

Competences

  • Behave ethically and adapt to different intercultural contexts.
  • Critically interpret the context in which the tourism sector operates, from different perspectives deriving from theory, ideology and good practice.
  • Develop a capacity for independent learning.
  • Implement business communication techniques used by tourism organisations: internal, external and corporate.
  • Manage human resources in tourism organisations.
  • Propose creative alternative solutions to problems arising in the field of tourism management, planning, businesses and products.
  • Self-assess the knowledge acquired.
  • Use ICT tools (reservations software, travel agency and hotel management packages, etc.) in tourism management, planning and products.
  • Use communication techniques at all levels.
  • Work in a team.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Acquire skills in leadership and conflict management.
  2. Behave ethically and adapt to different intercultural contexts.
  3. Develop a capacity for independent learning.
  4. Manage human resources in tourism organisations.
  5. Self-assess the knowledge acquired.
  6. Use communication techniques at all levels.
  7. Use communication techniques to convey ideas about the state of the tourism sector.
  8. Use the communication techniques associated with tourism entities.
  9. Use travel agency, hotel and catering, and communication software in the tourism sector.
  10. Work in a team.

Content

I PART: GDS- AMADEUS 

Unit 1: Introduction to Global distribution systems and their functionalities 

Unit 2: Encoding and decoding 

Unit 3: Air Availability 

Unit 4: Air reservations

II PART: HOTEL PMS

Unit 5: Introduction to PMS main functions: reservations, profiles, cashiers options, back office interface and revenue management 

Unit 6: Hotel reservations. Types of reservations, clients and rates.

Unit 7: Creation and maintenance of files and reservations and rooms managing

Unit 8: Front desk operations: check-in, check-out, invoicing and reports

III PART: TRAVEL AGENCIES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Unit 9: Introduction to management systems for travel agencies and their functionalities

Unit 10: Creation, control and file maintenance 

Unit 11: Creation, control and closing travel records 

Unit 12: Services invoicing and document generation

IV PART: INTRODUCTION TO REVENUE MANAGEMENT

Unit 13: Introducing basic Revenue Management principles.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 15 0.6 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10
Practical classes 15 0.6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Type: Supervised      
Tutoring 11 0.44 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Type: Autonomous      
Paper creation 6 0.24 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Study 89 3.56 3, 5, 7, 8, 9

Teaching language:

Degree in tourism: Spanish

Degree in tourism in English:  English 

 

The subject is taught considering two different teaching and learning methodologies:

a) Theoretical methodology: 

Classroom explanations type master-class of all the units. 

b) Methodology for the practical part of the course:

Completion and presentation of class exercises and case studies (individual or group) making inquiries, reservations and airfare quotes related with the classroom explanations.

The virtual Campus will be used as an information complement and as alternative communication channel to classroom between students and professor. At the virtual campus the student will find the subject profile, the exercises and study cases, links to websites, software user's manuals and subject marks.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Amadeus practical exam 30% of final mark 2 0.08 1, 3, 5, 8, 9
Practical activities 70% of final mark 12 0.48 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The subject evaluation will be as follows:

Continuous assessment. The continuous assessment consists of the following system:

a)    Realization of practical activities in Amadeus that will worth the 35% of final grade.

b)    The performance of a practical test consisting in the realization of several bookings with Amadeus that will worth the 30% of final gradeand that will average with the practical activities with a minimum grade of 4.

c)    Realization of practical activities that will worth the 30% of final grade (15% the Hotel PMS activities and 15% the Travel agencies front office ones).

d)    Realization of one activity about Revenue Management that will worth the 5% of final grade.

To average the marks corresponding to the different activities it is a must to obtain a minimun grade of 4 out of 10 in each block (a, b, c and d).

Unique evaluation: 

The students that opt for this option must do a dossier with practical activities that counts the 40% of the final mark, an amadeus exam that counts the 30% of the final mark, a PMS exam that counts the 15% of the final mark and one front office exam that counts the 15% of the final mark.

To average the activities and the exams it is compulsory to obtain a minimun mark of 4 out of 10 on each assessment activity. 

Resit exam. Those students who don't pass the final exam and that obtain a mark over 3,5 will have the chance to do this exam. The maximum final grade to be obtained is of a 5 out of 10. 

The grade for the subject will be NOT EVALUABLE when thestudent attends less than half of the assessment activities and/or does not attend the final exam.


Bibliography

Amadeus España (2009): Manual de Amadeus Selling Platform, Madrid.

Amadeus España (2009): Prontuario de Amadeus Ticketing, Madrid.

Amadeus España (2009): Prontuario de Reservas, tarifas y emisión, Madrid.

Del Pico, Fátima. (1997): Manual de Reservas Savia Amadeus, Madrid: Opentour Ediciones. 

Micros-Sysme-Hotel  España (2006): Manual de producto: Sysme-Hotel , Madrid.

Pipeline Software (2007):Manual de producto: Orbis, Castellón.


Software

GDS: AMADEUS

HOTEL PMS

FRONT OFFICE: ORBIS


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 English first semester morning-mixed