Quality of Life and Sustainability in Tourism

In this course, students learn about the planning and organisation of events, as well as their staging and implementation. A special focus is placed on personnel/employee management and budgeting. Additional topics covered include ticketing, event software and apps and augmented reality.

In teams of 4 to 6, the students independently execute a specific project based on the planned work packages and implementation steps from the previous planning phase and present their results during a public hearing. Team building and team development are the central theoretical and practical components of this course. The topics are subject-specific and based on the specialisations of the degree. Internal and external projects brought in by companies or non-profit organisations are executed.

This course teaches students applied statistics and the processing of quantitative data in the areas of health, tourism and economics. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to perform descriptive and inductive analyses using the statistics program SPSS and interpret results. They will also be able to process qualitative data and apply content analysis techniques.

This course teaches students methods for the high-quality development of health promotion conditions, structures and processes in companies as well as the enabling of health-promoting behaviour in employees. In addition to acquiring management competencies for the procedural integration of company health management in the structural and operational organisation and scientific methods for assessing effectiveness, students learn how to apply organisational development concepts. This course also addresses issues regarding the transformation and future of work and discusses them in detail using practical examples.

This course discusses both the financial sector and investment as related areas within a company. A special focus is placed on application scenarios in the tourism, health and sport sectors. Financial management tasks and goals as well as financial and investment planning are covered. Investment calculation is discussed based on real investments and financial investments. The course also introduces additional variables which influence investment decisions. Financing is illustrated using hands-on examples of bank financing and equity financing.

In this course, students will acquire skills and knowledge in the areas of leadership (demands on executives, management concepts, management styles, character theories, behaviour theories, competency models, new leadership models) and human resource management (basic principles, personnel marketing, recruiting, personnel development, management development, salary and bonus systems, personnel administration, personnel controlling, personnel information systems).

In the context of the growing significance of tourism for regional and national economies, this course teaches students how to identify the diverse resources required for tourism both inside and outside of tourism companies and organisations. Interdisciplinary methods for measuring the economic, sociocultural, ecological and political effects of tourism are discussed and used as the basis for the development of strategies for sustainable resource management using modern management instruments in case studies.

In this course, students acquire an in-depth knowledge of nature as a complex resource worthy of protection for health promotion in the form of experience-based tourism products, while taking current trends into consideration. Using best practice examples, challenges and solutions in the area of sustainable nature tourism are analysed from an interdisciplinary perspective with a special focus on the aspects of stakeholder needs, regional development, product design and marketing, and determinants for marketable health tourism products derived from these considerations.

In this course, students will learn how to manage these products following the principles of resource saving and long-term resource planning. Students will acquire a deeper understanding of the theoretical aspects of leisure management with a special focus on cultural and city tourism. Using case studies, models of civic involvement such as volunteering, social entrepreneurship and caring communities are discussed using citizen relationship management and experience scholarship instruments, and practical principles of action are derived. During the “City as a Stage” excursion, stories from the everyday life of a city are told to provide students with an expanded repertoire of creative leisure education methods.

This course gives students an overview of the basic change models and the ideal steps of a change plan. They learn the different phases and challenges (location selection, stakeholder analysis and the development of a communication concept, the development of a vision and long-term strategies, the design of change architectures, how to overcome resistance, leadership during change etc.) as well as the associated processing methods. In the second part of this course, students use specific practical cases to exercise and reflect on the application and implementation of these methods and phases.

Students learn strategies for forging and fostering (business) contacts and building up their own network. Various network types are described, and the defining features of a good network as well as how to become network-attractive are explained. Students also learn how to start their own networks and how to master a confident presence on the social stage.

In this course, students learn the key elements and processes of entrepreneurship. The recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities and quantitative and qualitative assessment are discussed, and an ideal start-up process is acted out. In this process, the main tasks, opportunities, risks and key success metrics (evaluations) that follow the creation of a business are explained. Students are also taught the significance of innovation, strategy and business models, marketing, start-up financing, and legal parameters, as well as the business and master plans. Case studies, specifically in the areas of health, tourism, sport and events, are used as practical examples.

This course discusses strategic approaches to the fundamental course of action in sales. A special focus is placed on customers, competitive advantages, sales channels and price policy. The course also covers the structure of sales organisations, personnel management and the sales culture. The significance and instruments of information management in sales is also touched on. Elements of customer relationship management are introduced. Case studies in the areas of tourism and healthcare operations, as well as the sport and event sector are use as practical examples.

In this course, students are introduced to Austrian tax law and its systematic functionality using the example of a model business start-up to explore tax consequences and structuring possibilities. This course also discusses corporate law, trade law, company law and insolvency law using practical examples. The sample “operation” of a company is used to illustrate the practical application of all areas of law. Within this context, topics related to corporate law, civil law and criminal law which are relevant to business are presented and discussed. Procedural legality and current trends in legislation and jurisdiction round out the list of topics.

In this course, students acquire in-depth knowledge of Austrian labour law with a focus on individual labour law (employment contract law) with the goal of acquiring the orientation within the Austrian labour law system needed to work as a future human resources manager (personnel responsibility) and devise actions derived from that orientation, as well as to contribute to the structuring of procedural workflows. Students acquire the ability to interpret and discursively solve specific legal questions related to labour law in practical scenarios based on the current high court jurisdiction.

This course discusses the economics of leisure and tourism and the main features, organisational forms and goals of leisure and tourism policy at a national and international level using practical examples. Students create a concept for a tourism region in Austria or in a neighbouring country, while taking into account the economic and market situation, as well as the initial tourism situation. This course also elaborates on tourism policy goals and measures and discusses their implementation.

In this course, students are introduced to the basic types of thermal springs and spas, as well as the structures of the international spa markets and their special ranges of services. The specific management requirements of these health tourism types of business are explored in more detail through theory and practical examples, with a special focus on the areas of architecture and space planning, financing, HR management and quality management.

In this course, students acquire knowledge of and skills in the management of inpatient facilities in the healthcare and tourism sectors. The ongoing transformation of internal and peripheral systems requires early recognition of and response to various groups (patients, residents, guests, employees in shift-based operations, suppliers, the public). This course discusses topics relating to admission, interfaces, discharge, complaints and conflicts, crisis scenarios and safety, customer, diagnosis and treatment paths, core tasks in the process landscape, networking and cooperation and lines of action.

In this course, students are introduced to the fundamental types of tourist destinations and their specific organisational structures, as well as the typical management instruments for analysing and controlling destinations. Students acquire the skills needed to develop decision structures within destinations and to resolve conflicts. For external communication, this course covers modern forms of communication such as branding and cluster building (as health destinations, for example), to enable the generation of synergy effects and other competitive advantages for the destination.

In this course, students learn about different tourism and health funding opportunities to facilitate innovation in companies, organisations and regions. The principles of innovation management are taught, including innovation initialisation, funding and control. This course also covers the interfaces between innovation, human resources and participation processes. Using interdisciplinary case studies, students work through all phases of innovation and funding processes and analyse their potential to generate competitive advantages and financing.

In this course, students acquire a basic understanding of the complex and dynamic relationships in sustainable regional development. Various regional development concepts and strategies are explored, and analysis, control and monitoring instruments suitable for exploiting existing resources are covered. The necessary regional management skills are developed within the context of a practical project. Here, a special focus is placed on communicative and moderation skills with regard to the promotion of network processes.

Students prepare a Master's thesis in accordance with the relevant scientific criteria pertaining to their discipline. Students present and defend their Master's thesis within the context of a Master’s exam, in which the connections to central topics of the degree are tested.

During the writing of their Master's thesis, students are provided with technical and scientific support from the initial conceptualisation to the finished thesis. Both discipline-specific skills and scientific skills and capabilities are deepened.

This course uses case studies to explain the complexity of management situations and teaches students how to develop decision alternatives and the associated scenarios. Students work through case studies directly related to their study focus. The skills acquired in the various specialisations are applied in practical scenarios.