Tourism in Developing Economies (TOUR7053)

This course seeks to expose students to a variety of issues and challenges that developing countries face in the development and management of their tourism sector. Through the course, and this assessment item in particular, students will be encouraged to critically consider why tourism as a development strategy is not always as effective as it could be.

This assessment task requires students to research and write a blog that focuses on a tourism related issue for a developing country (or region of a developing country) of your choice:

• Firstly, identify an example from a developing country where tourism, for whatever reason, has not delivered sustainable outcomes (for example, there may be limited economic impacts due to high foreign ownership) or the tourism sector is constrained by a range of external factors (for example, governance arrangements of the country do not allow for local engagement in the tourism sector).
• Secondly, comprehensively research the issue using a wide range of academic, government, and other online sources (i.e. blogs, news articles, etc.). Research should cover the context/background, the problem/issue, the impact on the country/region, etc. See blackboard for further information on the types of things that might form part of your research.
• Finally, write an informative and educational, yet highly engaging blog to bring awareness to your selected issue. The aim is to engage and excite readers about the issue. 

The blog should be approximately 1000 words.

You will be assessed on your ability to:

• provide a well researched and critical analysis of your selected issue
• write in a style that engages your audience (remember this is social media and not an essay), and draws attention to the issue
• See the marking rubric for further information.

Other points to note:

• The blog should be submitted through the Turnitin links on Blackboard. You will need to save your blog website as a PDF for submission.
• At least 3 academic sources should be cited. Although this is not an academic piece of writing, the purpose of reviewing academic literature is to ensure the blog is underpinned by research. There are no limits on the number of other sources consulted although note the requirements in the marking rubric regarding critical analysis, well researched, etc.
• See Blackboard for the marking rubric for this task.
• The word limit for this piece is relatively low, however, do keep in mind that this can in fact be more challenging than writing a several thousand word essay. Being able to convey information and provide a critical review (i.e. different points of view of an issue) in a concise and engaging style will require considerable time and effort is devoted to this task.
• Pictures or other materials can be used as appropriate to engage your audience. There are no minimum expectations or requirements for the inclusion of other materials. The sources of all materials must be cited/referenced as appropriate. Be sure to check there are no copyright restrictions on materials and photos that you have taken from the web.
• Previous blog examples will be posted on the course Blackboard site.

This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

This assessment task is comprised of four short essays. The essay topics will provide students with the opportunity to critically discuss various opportunities and challenges of tourism for developing economies. The essay questions will be drawn from various topics, case studies, discussions and readings across the entire semester. 

The response to each essay question should be approximately 500 words each (+/- 10%). Each essay should be typed and submitted electronically via Turnitin on Blackboard. All four essays should be submitted in one document, and each essay should start on a new page. At the start of each essay you should present the essay question you are responding to. 

See the course Blackboard site for more information and resources on essay writing. Each essay should purposefully cite at least 3 academic sources that are relevant to the particular essay topic. 

This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.