New York-based Cornell University and the Travel Foundation have announced that applications are now being accepted for over 800 students to take the online, eCornell course Sustainable Tourism Destination Management with full financial support, courtesy of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.
Applications opened on Cornell’s Sustainable Tourism Asset Management Programme (STAMP) website on June 27, and will be open for one month only.
To be eligible, applicants must reside in one of 154 qualifying countries, be proficient in English, and commit to completing the comprehensive 40-hour course over eight weeks (equivalent to about half a day of study per week).
Graduates who fulfil all course requirements will receive a Recognition of Achievement from Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business.
“This course has been designed to deliver vital tools to address a global skills gap in destination management that Cornell and the Travel Foundation first highlighted in their 2019 report ‘Destinations at Risk: the Invisible Burden of Tourism’,” said Mark Milstein, Academic Director of the Centre for Sustainable Global Enterprise and co-faculty lead at Cornell University.
This self-paced course is designed for students and working professionals in both public and private workplace settings, with tools and exercises directly applicable to the needs of tourism ministries, destination management organisations, protected areas, municipal governments, and NGOs.
“This course fulfils a critical need, equipping destination managers and other place-based professionals with the tools and know-how to navigate the big challenges of the 21st Century. The scholarship places are a fantastic opportunity to ensure that, across the globe, cost is no barrier to accessing this learning and support from an Ivy League university,” said Jeremy Sampson, CEO of the Travel Foundation.
The course offers a set of guidance materials to allow programme graduates to immediately assess their destinations for practical future needs for sustainable tourism development, such as sustainable infrastructure requirements; destination-wide climate mitigation and adaptation tools; and social, environmental and economic development indicators that inclusively pinpoint local needs.
“Sustainable Tourism Destination Management is now 100% affordable for students who seek to raise their capacity and address the future of management of tourism destinations worldwide,” said Megan Epler Wood, MD of STAMP and co-faculty lead at Cornell University.
Applications will be accepted until July 31.
