New Tourism Masters Degree Offers Industry Students Equipped to Help Gauge the Future

Sports, cultural and convention-related tourism enterprises and venues in central Indiana might wish for a crystal ball to help navigate a future that promises to bring both growth and challenges. The Indiana University School of Physical Education and Tourism Management at IUPUI plans to give them one – in the form of graduates of a new masters program who are trained to look at long-term implications of the business environment and adjust strategic plans accordingly.

The school will begin offering a Masters in Event Tourism this coming fall semester, a new advanced degree that will provide graduates with a strong background in research design and statistics, said Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis, Ph.D, Chair of the school’s Department of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management.

Two of the seven courses that comprise the degree will be offered during the upcoming spring semester: a cultural tourism class and a tourism economics class.

The degree will provide opportunities for focused graduate studies in one of three event tourism-specific areas: sports tourism, cultural tourism and convention tourism. Graduates will have a practical and theoretical understanding of the events and experiences created by expositions, fairs, sports, festivals, conferences, meetings and cultural destinations.

The new degree is an outgrowth of conversations the school had with tourism industry officials who expressed a need for such a program as the City of Indianapolis began ratcheting up its investment in tourism.

The school has produced a steady stream of undergraduates with tourism-related degrees who help their employers maximize their day-to-day operations, Hji-Avgoustis said. But with such events as the Super Bowl coming to Indianapolis, there is an additional need for students who are trained to look into the future and develop action plans, he added.

“Graduates will be well-equipped to conduct research as a means to increasing organizational productivity and efficiency,” Hji-Avgoustis said