Tourism Studies
Written Assignments: Essay
There will be two written assignments which students have to complete. Each essay should
be a maximum of 1500 words (excluding references) and not less than 1000 words (excluding references).
Essay 1:
Topic: Pick a destination or organization of your own choice and discuss how they are
working with sustainability.
Value: 3 credits
Word Limit: 4 pages=1100 words (excluding references)
Format: APA format. Please use a 12-point font size. Please use 2.0 line spacing.
NOTE: When writing an academic paper, it is important to think about what your argument or
discussion will be. How are you going to answer the question? What is the question asking?
What do you need to discuss in order to answer the question?
As part of the process to answering the questions, you will need to read and review relevant
literature to support your topic. It is expected that you will go beyond the course literature
and search and find other sources to support the argument you make in your essay. Utilize
resources from the University Library and on‐line searches. These resources will include
academic journal articles, academic books as well as industry resources, newspaper articles
and other sources.
To think about when writing your paper:
The paper must be written in an academic way; clear and well structured, with proper
referencing and demonstrate a development of your thoughts throughout the work.
Use correct English and try to avoid words like “I”, “me”, “mine” (i.e. use of first
person). It is ok to use these words in the introduction and in the discussion but try to
avoid it elsewhere in the paper.
Let other people, not included in your group, read your paper before you hand it in.
Perhaps they detect something that is not clear or have suggestions on how to improve
your work.
Remember to reference the information you use in your text. Simply copying and
pasting text from other sources equals plagiarism. You need to be absolutely sure that
you have referred to all of your sources in your text and in your reference list.
The general structure of the paper that you need to follow:
- Title page with the title of your essay, your name, course information and the name of
the course coordinator
- Introduction; here you provide some background information on your topic, state your
aim and research questions
- Reviewing and Discussing the Literature; in these paragraphs you inform the reader of
what you have found in the literature and make critical assessments of the material you have found
- Conclusion; in this part, you discuss how you have answered the essay question and
perhaps suggest other avenues that the reader could explore.
- References; in the reference list the reader will be able to get full information on the
sources you have used
- If you include any tables and figures in your essay, then they need to be numbered
throughout your paper and the original source of the table or figure needs to be
referenced (i.e. Figure 1. Title of your figure. Source: Reference).
Other useful information:
- References: try to use 10 references; at least 5 should be academic references. You can also use news articles, YouTube videos, statistics, industry reports, personal conversations plus many more sources.
- Formatting references: APA style
Course Materials: (others are attached in the file and sent through contact support since the PDF file is not supported by the website.)
Important lectures:
- Conceptualising Sustainable Tourism Development
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIpYyNiyA2c
- How to Nudge Environmental Behavior with Prof Sara Dolnicar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy7WMeCUr9g
Short clip videos:
- The Importance of Tourism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35KzDBaau7I
- The environmental impacts of tourism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTIOeU6a3Pk
- Air pollution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkDyvH7xEco
- What does Backstage Paradise look like? -Rubbish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QAvvdKkGgY
- Effects of climate change in Kiribati – Quick facts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH5m2PTp34M
- Uncivilized Chinese Tourists Provoke Outrage Abroad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j9bLIg84XM
If you have any questions or need clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you so much! 😊
