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Innovation and Creativity in Tourism

Code: 107785 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Tourism OB 1

Contact

Name:
Albert Vancells Farraró
Email:
albert.vancells@uab.cat

Teachers

Carmen Ruiz Aguado
Marta-Patricia Aparicio Montesinos
Andreea Nicoleta Gaita

Teaching groups languages

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


Prerequisites

None.


Objectives and Contextualisation

The main objective of this course is to foster students’ creativity and capacity for innovation, both on a personal level and within the context of the tourism industry. To this end, the course is divided into two distinct parts:

 1.       Personal Innovation and Creativity 

Building on the previous course Digital and Communication Skills in Tourism, this first part will focus on developing students’ personal creativity. Activities will be designed to help students explore their interests, skills, and creative thinking, with the goal of enhancing their ability to generate original ideas, solve problems innovatively, and express themselves creatively.

 2.       Innovation and Creativity in the Tourism Sector

The second part will focus on applying creativity and innovation across various areas of the tourism industry. Four specific domains will be addressed: Accommodation, Intermediation, Cultural Management, and Event Planning.

 Each area will combine theoretical content with practical activities that will allow students to develop creative and applicable proposals, promoting a critical and transformative approach to the sector.

 By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Express well-founded opinions on the current state and challenges of the tourism sector.
  • Develop creative and innovative ideas and solutions, both individually and collaboratively.
  • Analyse different areas of the tourism industry and propose improvements focused on innovation and adaptation to emerging trends.

 


Learning Outcomes

  1. CM28 (Competence) Design tourism projects based on sustainability and accessibility.
  2. CM29 (Competence) Adapt the different management and planning tools that promote the development of the tourism sector and the entrepreneurial spirit when creating and improving tourism companies and products.
  3. CM29 (Competence) Adapt the different management and planning tools that promote the development of the tourism sector and the entrepreneurial spirit when creating and improving tourism companies and products.
  4. CM30 (Competence) Plan experiences and outline innovative cases related to the tourism sector.
  5. KM30 (Knowledge) Identify the fundamental elements leading to the creation of new trends in the tourism sector.
  6. KM31 (Knowledge) Relate concepts linked to sustainability and accessibility in the creation and development of tourism destinations and products.
  7. SM41 (Skill) Apply the best practices, trends and the most up-to-date approaches to the challenges entailed in tourism development.
  8. SM42 (Skill) Differentiate products based on the resources that facilitate their creation and development.

Content

Topic 1 - Innovation and Personal Creativity

Topic 2 - Innovation and Creativity in Hotel Management and Accommodation.

Topic 3 - Innovation and Creativity in the Intermediation Sector.

Topic 4 - Innovation and Creativity in the Management of Cultural Tourism.

Topic 5 - Innovation and Creativity in Event Management.

Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Sector's Innovation and Creativity Activities 47 1.88 CM28, KM30, KM31, SM41, SM42, CM28
Type: Supervised      
Personal Innovation and Creativity activities 42 1.68 CM28, CM29, KM30, KM31, SM42, CM28
Type: Autonomous      
Case Studies 25 1

The methodology applied in this subject is divided into three differentiated aspects.

1- Autonomous activities that are combined with theoretical explanations that should allow students to develop their specific creativity and innovation skills in the tourism sector.
2- Supervised activities that allow for the development of innovation and creativity on a personal level.
3- Exams will allow students and teachers to assess the acquisition of certain theoretical knowledge of each of the tourism subsectors.
 

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
Exams 40% 4 0.16 SM41, SM42
Personal Innovation and Creativity activities 30% 16 0.64 CM28, CM29
Sector's Innovation and Creativity Activities 30% 16 0.64 CM30, KM30, KM31

CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT
 
30% of the course grade will be attendance and active participation in the Innovation and Personal Creativity activities
30% of the course grade will be attendance and active participation in the practical activities of each of the Innovation and Creativity in the sector sections.
40% Exams corresponding to the Innovation and Creativity in the sector sessions (Hotels, Intermediation, Events and Cultural Management), to be distributed according to the timing of the planned teaching.
 
Attendance rules: 
 
This is a largely experiential subject, so it is essential to attend class to be able to pass it.
- Attendance will be mandatory for 80% of the hours dedicated to Innovation and Personal Creativity. Therefore, 14 hours out of the 16 allocated to these activities. The grade for this part will be distributed as 20% Attendance and 80% Active Participation.
- Attendance will be mandatory for 80% of the hours dedicated to Innovation and Creativity of the sector (of each of its parts). Therefore, it will be mandatory to attend 10 of the 12 hours allocated to each sector. The grade for this part will be distributed as 20% Attendance and 80% Active Participation.
- Non-attendance in class, in order not to be counted as absence, must be for a justified reason. A justified reason is understood to be attendance at another compulsory teaching activity of the center or a duly justified medical emergency (the original of the document provided by the doctor or by the center that has treated the student, signed and stamped, must be provided).
- The total average grade of the partial Innovation and Creativity of the sector must be at least 5 to be able to average with the rest of the activities of the course.
- There is no minimum grade required to attend the Remedial Exam, but it will be mandatory to have attended the Final Exam to be able to do the Remedial.
 
SINGLE EVALUATION
This possibility does not exist in this subject.
 
RECOVERY
- Provided for those students who have not passed the Continuous Assessment (which includes attendance and participation in the activities and exams of the different parts).
- The recovery of Innovation and Creativity of the Sector will be done through one or several exams, and the failed parts can be recovered independently.
- Regarding the recovery of Innovation and Personal Creativity, it will be recovered through a Work or tasks to be determined by the responsible teaching staff.

Bibliography

Bastidas Manzano, A.B. y Casado Aranda, L.A. (2023): Innovación Aplicada en el sector turístico. Pirámide. Madrid

Bayón Mariné, F. i Martín Rojo, I. (2004): Operaciones y Procesos de producción en el sector turístico, Madrid: Editorial Síntesis.

Cerra, Javier ; Dorado, José A. ; Estepa, Diego ; Garcia, Pedro E. (1.997):  Gestión de Producción de Alojamientos Turísticos – Col·lecció "Gestión Turística" ; Ed. Síntesis.

Cooper, C. (2016): Essentials of tourism. Editorial Pearson.

Fletcher, J. y Fyall, A. (2013): Tourism, principles and practice. Editorial Pearson.

Gordini, M.A. et al. (2021). The Routledge companion to international hospitality management. New York & London: Routdedge. 

Hall, C.Michael and Williams, Allan M. (2020): Tourism and Innovation. Routledge

Olmos Juárez, L. i García Cebrián, R. (2016): Estructura del mercado turístico, Madrid: Ediciones Paraninfo.


Software

There isn't.


Groups and Languages

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