BA (Hons) Event Management and Tourism
Key information
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Typical offer:
Entry requirements -
Fees: See below
Full details -
UCAS code: N891
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Institute code: H36
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Study abroad option
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Work placement option
Find out more
Why choose this course?
- 2022 Graduates successfully organised the Hertfordshire Business School Grad Ball at Hatfield House
- Learn how to design and deliver outstanding visitor experiences
- A fun, immersive and engaging hands-on course
There is a truly magical feeling as you finish the process from conceiving an idea, to the excitement of seeing your guests enjoy a memorable experience you created.
Never has there been a more exciting time to pursue a career in event management and tourism, with global opportunities and a wide range of career options, including many new ones prompted by sector developments. The industry needs confident and experienced employees, and this BA (Hons) Event Management and Tourism course prepares you from the start as you get straight into event and experience planning, helping you develop an understanding of all the elements that make up great visitor experiences of any size, scope, or budget.
Get a global perspective, looking at the cultural, environmental and economic impacts on destinations as well as working on live events and experiences from your first year, giving you a practical grounding in every aspect.
As your knowledge grows, gain confidence in applying it to a wider range of situations. Simulations and practical exercises also develop key skills such as planning, teamwork, collaboration and health and safety.
Our collaborations with business partners, and our strong alumni network, enable us to bring in many industry experts, giving you a chance to learn and benefit from their experience.
Your learning is enhanced by field trips, seeing how the theory applies in practice, with an option for an international field trip in the second year.
The hands-on learning often fast tracks your career once you graduate. There is also the opportunity to go into other roles, such as project management or marketing, due to the broad base of transferable skills.
You will be pushed to develop your own unique strategies for success and given the support you need from our friendly and warm-hearted team.
This course sits within the Hertfordshire Business School which maintains strong relationships with professional bodies and business connections. Meet entrepreneurs–in–residence, business ambassadors and industry leaders at networking events or in guest lectures through our Business Academy.
Our staff
Your enthusiastic teaching team, many of whom have first-hand industry experience, guide and support you to develop practical skills and comprehensive knowledge.
You’ll also benefit from an academic support team, wellbeing team and personal tutor to help you adjust to the demands of university learning and living.
What's the course about?
Discover all there is to know about planning, marketing, and running successful events and tourism experiences through interactive, hands-on learning in a fun environment.
There are core modules you need to cover, such as in marketing, management and professionalism. You also have the option to choose modules in specialist areas that allow you to tailor the course to your own interests and career direction.
There is a strong focus on addressing industry challenges facing the sector today including sustainability, effective use of technology, and entrepreneurship.
With a considerable amount of live project work, you get to see ideas become reality, allowing you to constantly reflect to improve and professionalise your skills. Assessments are very much based on your future working environment, and include posters, videos, debates and event delivery.
The course will take either three or four years, depending on placements or study abroad, and is filled with opportunities to apply your learning and kick-start your career.
As an international course, you will gain an awareness of, and sensitivity to different cultural backgrounds and influences through working/studying abroad and global case studies.
We actively support you to go out on an industry placement, study abroad or do an internship (including the latest online bite-sized digital experiences) to help you find your direction and to boost your CV to secure your first graduate role.
Where you'll study
Your teaching is on our modern de Havilland Campus, with our 24/7 Learning Resources Centre, featuring open and private study spaces. You also get online self-study materials to further support you.
There are dining options, a bar, and a recreational space on campus where you can shoot some pool or play video games. It also houses Hertfordshire Sports Village, which features a gym, swimming pool, coffee shop, and a climbing wall.
Discover the Enterprise Hub, a vibrant destination where local firms and students work and learn in comfort.
The Student Union bar and additional facilities are only a 20 minute walk (or short bus ride) away at our College Lane Campus. Student housing is available at both campuses.
What will I study?
You are encouraged to develop your skills from the start, planning and delivering experiences, on this fun and practical course.
There are core modules you cover, such as in marketing, management, and professionalism. You also have the option to choose modules in specialist areas that allow you to tailor the course to your own interests and career direction.
In your first year, you’ll develop a firm foundation in the industry and key areas such as marketing and professional skills as well as an introduction to live experience planning.
In your second year, you’ll delve deeper into key aspects such as sustainability, technology and risk assessments with the opportunity to look at areas of specific interest.
Your final year brings all your skills together with immersive live projects and the chance to work with local businesses. You’ll organise a student conference as part of your final year project.
The 2022 Hertfordshire Business School Grad Ball was organised by Events students also running the events society. Not only was it a lot of fun for all who went but it provided an excellent CV boost for organisers. It was a direct contributor to many getting the Go Herts Awards alongside their degree.
There are also opportunities to further enrich your personal development through our Go Herts certification program, placements, internships, study-abroad and Future Success networking events.
Check out our student blogs

Student Blogs
Kira - Week at a glance
My week at a glance
On a Sunday night, I’ll always write out plans for that week in a calendar on my wall to remember by lecturers, seminars, meetings with lecturers and classmates for group work, including my shifts for work. After I’ve got down the compulsory activities, I’ll enter all the social events or fun things I want to do, meeting with friends, lunches, activities to attend on-campus like Active Student roller skating parties or course parties where us students and lecturers get together. Then I’ll enter allotted times to work and study, concentrating on specific modules or assignments but trying to encompass some fun things to do throughout the day, or least some wellbeing time, whether it is going to the gym, reading, or doing my hobbies. Throughout the week, I try to stick to the calendar as much as possible, ensuring I do enough uni work to balance with the social activities, attending lecturers and office hours with staff. Between working a part-time job and having an active social life, I aim to get six hours of uni work done per day, depending on how close deadlines are.
Especially in the final year, it’s so easy to get caught up in assignments and workload but staying physically and mentally active goes further than procrastinating at a screen for an hour on end. With the girls on my course, we always make time for Friday lunch where we sit in the de Hav café and catch up before our final lectures of the week. We often catch up with other mates in there, making it a social area and a nice end to the week and we try to book study rooms in between lecturer gaps to have some downtime or catch up with notes together. There plenty to do on the weekends too, including EleHouse and the forum on College Lane Campus, St. Albans has a great nightlife with all sorts of bars and pubs and Hatfield has the Galleria, a massive outlet shopping area which is great to walk around. I’ll normally work a few hours over the weekend at the gym and finish my shift off with a swim before going to Aldi or Asda to get my shopping for the week. My girls and I sometimes meet up in the evenings to enjoy a film and wine night too which is a fantastic way to replenish for the week ahead.

Student Blogs
Kira - Choosing my course
What I love most about my course
As a final year tourism management student who take a placement year, I’ve had four years to experience the university and strength my course offers. One of the best things about my course must be the lecturers. It’s a very cliché thing to say but the team are so strong and friendly! Referred to as the THEM team (Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management), the lecturers are all good friends and it shows; and I would genuinely consider many of the lecturers my friends too. They are always down for a chat, helping with assignments and lecture notes wherever possible. Our module leader, in particular, is fantastic and we have little social events with the THEM team, such as Christmas parties fueled with prosecco and orange juice, career networking with hundreds of job opportunities and it is always someone’s birthday within the tourism management course so there is a constant supply of cake! The team are professional, knowledgeable but super approachable and kind-hearted too with our interest in the forefront of their mind.
My course has so many aspects to it as well, so I’ve covered modules such as tourism planning, HR (Human Resources), strategic business management, data analysis, international field trip and niche tourism. The best module was the international field trip whereby we went to Marbella in the second year and undertook a photograph observation assignment. Not only did we go but we were able to plan our own trips and ended up in this really secluded, beautiful village called Ojen, which lead to a shift in my career path and influenced my placement year which I’ll talk about a bit more in a second. The course also entails a whole load of trips, ranging from The British Museum, World Travel Market, Signature Airport (a private airport where we viewed the operations, apron and guest suites - we even sat in the same chair as Beyoncé), Shakespeare’s Birthplace and loads more. The opportunities within this course are endless. My placement year was one of the best opportunities I had too, where students take a year out to work in an industry-related role, having a hands-on experience learning from industry experts. This is not a mandatory part of the course either so students can simply do a three-year course or take the placement or study abroad choice. I worked within an organization called Wendy Wu Tours, designing tailormade holidays and ended up setting up my own team, managing and training days which gave me a heap of experience. In the meantime, my course mates went off to all corners of the world including Japan, Spain, Singapore, and Disneyworld so there are endless opportunities.

Student Blogs
Kira - Why I chose Herts
Why I chose Herts
There are a plethora of reasons why I chose Herts but the main one, for me, was the opportunities available within my course, Tourism Management. With a sandwich year available, I was granted the opportunity within a dream job which has helped with my career direction post-graduation, which wasn’t necessarily available at other universities. In addition, 80% of the tourism management course also took a placement/study abroad year meaning we can all graduate together! Secondly, the teaching staff at Herts are highly knowledgeable, professional and had great connections from a quick LinkedIn search, which, upon reflection, was fully used throughout my degree with many networking events, guest speakers and course trips.
Moreover, geographically, Herts is in a great position. Central London is only a 20-minute train ride away and I was close enough to home for some of my mum’s classic roast dinners. Based just a few minutes walk from campus, the Galleria has some awesome shops and restaurants to check out if you fancy some time off, which is also great for job opportunities for students. Herts also has some cool socials and nightlife; from EleHouse, The Star Bar and The Forum, there’s always something going on to get involved in. The Forum does theme nights too which are always a crack, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 90s classics and the Christmas party is always a highlight. Aside from partying, the Active Student events were super appealing, from sunrise yoga to roller-skating, these free events allow students to meet new people and get active together, alongside over 100 societies to get involved in.

Alumni Stories
Abies Iriowen
Meet Abies Iriowen who has applied her degree to improve diversity and equality in businesses. She currently works as a Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator at Goldman Sachs
Read more stories Find out more about this courseCurrent job role | Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator |
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Year of graduation | 2018 |
Course of study | BA (Hons) Business and Event Management |

University experience
Abies has fond memories of her time at the University of Hertfordshire and is grateful for all of the opportunities she had within and outside of her studies.
She stresses the importance of joining societies, going on trips and taking advantage of tutors. She says, that her studies gave her ‘the push to get practical work experience as they taught me great organisation skills and how to work well in a team.’
As part of her degree, Abies secured a placement at FDM group who then asked her to come back after she graduated. ‘I got to this point in my career by getting as much work experience as possible. I completed two summer internships before securing my placement.’.
Current career and future
As a Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator at Goldman Sachs, her role involves ‘managing school engagement programmes across the UK, supporting external conversations and diversity and inclusion, and delivering all Diversity and Inclusion Events across the country.’
In the future, she hopes to work her way up in an organisation to promote and support inclusive working environments.

Alumni Stories
Elizaveta Zaskalko
Meet Elizaveta Zaskalko, who has explored the tourism industry and shared her passion for travel. She works at Expedia Inc as an Account Manager.
Read more stories Find out more about this courseCurrent job role | Account Manager |
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Year of graduation | 2016 |
Course of study | BA (Hons) Tourism Management with French |

A passion for travel
Elizaveta always had a passion for tourism and knew her career would be within the industry. She works at Expedia Inc as an Account Manager and is responsible for the brand's relationships with Marriott, Hilton, and other chains in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Studying at the University gave her a vast knowledge of the tourism industry and prepared her for entering the sector. Tourism is a diverse and global industry, with many career opportunities for new graduates.
She says, 'When I started my studies, I knew that I wanted to work in the tourism industry but had no idea which part of it. As I progressed, I learned about so many different branches of the industry and it really helped me to narrow it down to the one I actually really enjoyed.'
Strong employment links
'The best thing about my course is that it prepared us for the working world. The programme had a huge focus on employability, which I think was incredibly useful. Coming out of university I knew where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do and how to achieve it.'
The employment focus and links to industry embedded into Elizaveta's degree are what persuaded her to study at Herts. Our courses are designed to give students great opportunities, prepare them for professional life and provide them with direct access to their chosen profession through expert teaching and tangible industry connections.
Elizaveta says, 'An important factor for me choosing to study at the University was being able to do an industry placement year, as it's very hard to get a job without work experience nowadays. My placement year was very challenging but it was one of the most useful experiences I have had so far.'