Skip to ContentSkip to Navigation
University of Groningenfounded in 1614  -  top 100 university
Close
EducationMaster's and PhD degree programmesCultural GeographyTourism Geography and Planning
Header image Tourism Geography and Planning
Master - full-time

Tourism Geography and Planning

Which impacts does tourism have on the social, cultural and spatial characteristics of an area? How do tourists influence and experience places and cultures? How can regional identities be used for tourism planning, and how could tourism contribute to regional development?

You will tackle these questions and study the interactions between tourists, visitors and local communities in detail in the Tourism Geography and Planning track. This track is an optional programme of the Master Cultural Geography.

Tourism is a global phenomenon with important regional and local impacts. Due to the large number of tourist trips and the possible economic influences, tourism development is often seen by policy makers as an important strategy for regional development. Tourism is an important instrument to achieve economic growth and improvement of the quality of life and the standard of living in areas that struggle with a decline in traditional economic sectors.

The Tourism Geography and Planning track offers critical insights into the role of the tourism sector in such liveability and identity questions. It offers international, place-based, critical and research-oriented approaches. You will discuss socio-cultural and spatial perspectives on tourism development, planning theories, research methods and relevant practices of tourism and places in the curriculum.

You will follow the Master track Tourism Geography and Planning in Leeuwarden (RUG/Campus Fryslân). The Faculty of Spatial Sciences cooperates for the Master track with the School of Tourism Management of NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences.

Facts & Figures
Degree
MSc in Cultural Geography
Course type
Master
Duration
12 months (60 ECTS)
Croho code
60656
Language of instruction
English
Start
September
Faculty
Spatial Sciences
Apply now
Why study this programme in Leeuwarden?

The University of Groningen is the only university in the Netherlands that offers a Master in Cultural Geography. It is one of the few masters taught in Campus Fryslân. Your compulsory courses are taught in Leeuwarden. Students are trained with the necessary critical, analytical, methodological and theoretical tools to contribute to place-related liveability in society. Career perspectives vary from governments, NGOs and corporate roles.

Programme
Periods
CoursesCourse Catalog >1234
Fieldwork Cultural Geography (5 EC)
Place, Regions & Identities (5 EC)
Tourism and Culture (5 EC)
Nature, Landscape & Heritage (5 EC)
Tourism and Regional Developement (5 EC)
Master's Thesis Cultural Geography (20 EC)
Qualitative Research Methods (5 EC)
Tourism Planning & Practice (5 EC)
Social Impact Assessment (5 EC)

Curriculum

For more information about the courses in this programme, please visit http://www.rug.nl/frw/education/master-info-frw/courses-master-track-tourism-geography-and-planning. This is the programme for academic year 2017-2018. All courses are taught in Leeuwarden.

Programme options
Cultural Geography (graduation track)

Study abroad

  • Study abroad is unaccommodated
Entry requirements

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
language test
  • English on VWO level
  • IELTS overall band 6.5, no less than 6.0 on each section
  • TOEFL internet based 90, no less than 21 on each section
  • Cambridge English: Cambridge certificate C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency (formerly known as CAE/CPE)
  • University of Groningen LCET: Minimum section scores C2 or C1 (one B2 allowed) See: https://www.rug.nl/(...)g-unit/english-lcet/
  • Please note that TOEFL MyBest Scores are not considered in the Admissions procedure
  • An exemption can be given by the Admission Board.
previous education

Academic Bachelor degree in geography, social sciences or tourism studies, with some background knowledge in Geography, including at least 10 ECTS in statistics and research methods. Research Universities bachelor degrees in Social, Rural, Human Geography and Urban and Regional Planning; Tourism; Environment and Infrastructure Planning; Sociology; Social Psychology; Landscape Architecture; Cultural Anthropology; International Relations; Land Use Planning.

Students with a relevant HBO diploma can be admitted to a pre-master programme. Contact master coordinator Arie Stoffelen for more information. Students at Stenden studying Tourism Management can take a minor in their programme that will give them direct access to this master programme.
other admission requirements

Een voorbeeld van een premasterprogramma is hieronder weergegeven. Aanpassingen aan dit schema blijven mogelijk op basis van de vorige studie van de student. Voor meer informatie, contacteer mastercoördinator Arie Stoffelen (h.j.w.stoffelen rug.nl)

1a Urbanism and planning, Physical geography 1b Statistics 1, People, place and culture 2a Statistics 2, Bachelorproject* 2b Bachelorproject*, Methods of academic research

  • Normaal is het bachelorproject 5 ECTS in 2a en 10 ECTS in 2b. In dit schema neemt de student een voorsprong op het standaardschema in 2a.

Transfer options

Study programmeOrganizationTransition
Tourism Managementnhlstenden

Deficiency program at previous program with a maximum of 30 EC

More information:

You can take a minor in your Tourism Management programme at Stenden that will give you direct access to the master track of Cultural Geography: Tourism Geography and Planning.
Study programmeOrganizationTransition
Cultural Anthropology and Development SociologyAll Research universities

Deficiency program with a maximum of 30 EC

More information:

Contact Arie Stoffelen (H.J.W.Stoffelen rug.nl) for more information.
Liberal Arts and SciencesAll Research universities

No additional requirements

More information:

Direct access with Philosophy, Politics & Economics. Conditional access with Reflecting on Culture and Cognition & Behaviour. Please contact master coordinator Arie Stoffelen (H.J.W.Stoffelen rug.nl) in that case. No access with other majors.
Sociology and Social Research (research)All Research universities

Deficiency program with a maximum of 30 EC

More information:

Contact Arie Stoffelen (H.J.W.Stoffelen rug.nl) for more information.
Clinical PsychologyAll Research universities

Deficiency program with a maximum of 30 EC

More information:

Contact Arie Stoffelen (H.J.W.Stoffelen rug.nl) for more information.
Spatial Planning and DesignAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Human Geography & Urban and Regional PlanningAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
language test
  • IELTS overall band 6.5, no less than 6.0 on each section
  • TOEFL internet based 90, no less than 21 on each section
  • Cambridge English: Cambridge certificate C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency (formerly known as CAE/CPE)
  • University of Groningen LCET: Minimum section scores C2 or C1 (one B2 allowed) See: https://www.rug.nl/(...)g-unit/english-lcet/
  • Please note that TOEFL MyBest Scores are not considered in the Admissions procedure
  • An exemption can be given by the Admission Board.
previous education

Academic Bachelor degree in geography, social sciences or tourism studies, with some background knowledge in Geography, including at least 10 ECTS in statistics and research methods. Research Universities bachelor degrees in Social, Rural, Human Geography and Urban and Regional Planning; Tourism; Environment and Infrastructure Planning; Sociology; Social Psychology; Landscape Architecture; Cultural Anthropology; International Relations; Land Use Planning.

Students with a relevant HBO diploma can be admitted to a pre-master programme. Contact master coordinator Tialda Haartsten for more information. Students at Stenden studying Tourism Management can take a minor in their programme that will give them direct access to this master programme.
other admission requirements

Premaster programmes

The following scheme shows a standard premaster programme for the Master Cultural Geography – Tourism Geography and Planning. Changes to this scheme remain possible, depending on the undergraduate programme of the applying student. For more information, please contact master coordinator Arie Stoffelen (h.j.w.stoffelen rug.nl).

1a Urbanism and planning, Physical geography 1b Statistics 1, People, place and culture 2a Statistics 2, Bachelorproject 2b Bachelorproject, Methods of academic research

Application deadlines

Type of studentDeadlineStart course
Dutch students15 August 202001 September 2020
EU/EEA students01 May 202001 September 2020
non-EU/EEA students01 May 202001 September 2020
Tuition fees
NationalityYearFeeProgramme form
EU/EEA2019-2020€ 2083full-time
non-EU/EEA2019-2020€ 14650full-time
EU/EEA2020-2021€ 2143full-time

Practical information for:

Dutch studentsInternational students
After your studies

Job prospects

Afgestudeerden kunnen hun kennis internationaal en lokaal toepassen als:

Graduates can apply their knowledge internationally and locally as:

  • policy analysts in governmental offices
  • tourism officers
  • destination planners
  • tourism entrepreneurs
  • UNWTO officers
  • researchers
  • lecturers

During the programme at the University of Groningen we offer support for your career preparation.

More information about the FSS Career Services.

See where our alumni end up in this graphic !

Research

Research in the Master

The research at the Department of Cultural Geography is strongly embedded in the research programme of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences.

It is labelled ‘tWIST: Towards Wellbeing, Innovation and Spatial Transformation’. Central in this research are experiences of local communities around the globe. The research in Cultural Geography focuses on place, identity and wellbeing and includes population decline and healthy aging.

Topics of recent research projects are:

  • Community participation;
  • Aging and wellbeing;
  • Innovation and rural transformation;
  • Socio-spatial consequences of population decline;
  • Heritage; evolution of the historical landscape;
  • Nature and health;
  • Entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility;
  • Employment opportunities
  • Housing and the living environment of the different groups in society;
  • Social impact assessment;
  • Social aspects of new technologies;
  • Social aspects of agriculture;
  • Social aspects of natural resource management;
  • Tourism and (cross-border) regional development; film and music tourism.

The research projects deal with the relations between people and place. Knowing your own 'place' is of fundamental importance for the formation of human identity and well-being. Cultural expressions such as art, architecture, rituals and language, and our knowledge and appreciation of nature and landscape interact with the physical environment to form our live stories and the liveability of places. Therefore, the ways in which we construct space and place are physical manifestations of both our imagination and our self-awareness. This perspective allows you to understand and explain differences between places, communities and the spatial behaviour of humans.

Our research is strongly empirical. Students will become familiar with qualitative and quantitative research methods during the Master, applied to the topics of place attachment, identity and liveability. Innovative research methods such as visual methodologies and location-based applications (social or soft GIS) can be used for the Master Thesis.


Apply nowBrochureEventsContact
Dutch studentsInternational students
Dutch brochureEnglish brochure
Master's WeekBroerstraat 5More information
Master Event FSSNettelbosje 2More information
More events

Contact

If you want to know more about the programme Tourism Geography and Planning, please contact:

  • Drs. Nienke Harteveld (Study advisor)
    Email: study.advice.fss rug.nl
    Telephone: 0503633906
  • Saskia Enuma (Study advisor)
    Email: study.advice.fss rug.nl
    Telephone: 0503633906
  • Testimonial of Joost Blaakmeer

    The programme stands on the intersection of different geographical specializations

    – Joost Blaakmeer
    Read more

    What attracted me to the Master in Cultural Geography and Tourism is how it stands on the intersection of different geographical specializations. By highlighting the links between tourism, cultures and planning in a globally connected world and exploring relevant tourism themes such as heritage, landscapes and cross-border cooperation you become a tourism professional with the capabilities to approach tourism from various perspectives.

    Close

Follow us!

Follow the UGfacebook twitter linkedin rss instagram youtube