​​​​​Frequently asked questions

Only applicants who already have completed a relevant study program with at least 180 ECTS points or more are admitted to the master’s program.

ECTS stands for European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. Whether an international degree meets these requirements is assessed by the (non-commercial) organization Uni Assist e.V. (https://www.uni-assist.de/en/). All applicants with an international qualification need to apply via Uni Assist.

In general, the master’s program is aimed at graduates of geography or business administration bachelor’s degree programs with a focus on tourism, tourism marketing or leisure studies.

Furthermore, applicants who completed environmentally related degree programs, such as landscape management or planning, forestry agricultural science, environmental science as well as social sciences, cultural studies, linguistics and communication sciences or ethnology can also be admitted if they can provide evidence of a tourism course or leisure studies course of at least 30 ECTS credit points.

Applicants with higher qualifications or degrees lasting at least four years, such as Diplom, Magister may be also admitted.

Please contact us if you are in doubt about whether you can be admitted to the master’s program. We really want to encourage interested students with little background in tourism to apply if the content of the study program appeals to them! You can demonstrate this, for example, by writing a letter of motivation if you wish. Our students usually have very different experiences and expertise which makes interdisciplinary learning possible. In any cases of doubt, the course director decides which degrees or other professional experiences can be recognized.

If you would like prepare yourself accordingly before taking up your studies, then we recommend that you complete the online course by Prof. Claudia Brözel at the Virtual Academy of Sustainability (no exams possible at the present). You can find the course here: http://www.va-bne.de/index.php/de/veranstaltungen/244-tourismusmanagement-im-spannungsfeld-von-nachhaltigkeit

If you lack tourism knowledge, we recommend the UNWTO academy’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “Introduction to Tourism-Industry Management". This free online course offers the opportunity to expand basic knowledge about management concepts in the tourism industry. You can find the course at:  https://www.unwto-tourismacademy.ie.edu/product/mooc 

Furthermore, we refer to the following basic literature (in German), which may be helpful in preparing for your studies:

Freyer, W. (2015): Tourismus. Einführung in die Fremdenverkehrsökonomie. München/Berlin/Boston.

Eisenstein, B. (2014): Grundlagen des Destinationsmanagements. München.

For applicants of non-German origin a preparatory German course is offered. For further information, please visit the pages of the Language Centre.

Language of instruction: 1. Semester: German, 2.Semester: English