MSc Creative Tourism Management
Paris, France
MSc
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 17,500
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
The economy and management of creative industries, as well as changes in cultural consumption, interact strongly with tourism, tourism practices, and destination development. Creativity plays a key role in many aspects of the tourism offer: creating tourist experiences, revitalizing existing products, enhancing creative and cultural assets, theming, and more. Public policies to support culture, creative industries, and creative territories contribute to the development of tourism (support for heritage and music festivals, etc.), the promotion of tourism offers (support for media and audiovisual industries), the desire to travel (support for language education, multiculturalism, etc.), economic stability (support for businesses, employment, etc.) and creativity and innovation itself (support for education, etc.). As a result, tourism strategies and creative tourism industries are becoming increasingly interconnected, leading to a hybridization of offers. In this new creative economy, tourism is even considered part of the evolving definition of the creative industries sector.
Cultural and creative tourism offers activities produced by the creative industries characteristic of a destination: arts, heritage, performing arts, cultural industries (cinema, music, video games, publishing, media), creative services such as design, taste industries such as fashion and gastronomy, and leisure activities such as games and sports. These creative activities, which are sustainable because they are rooted in a local context, enable visitors to develop their creative potential through active participation, engaging experience, or even co-creation between locals and travelers. This represents the leading trend in an innovative tourism economy.
Our program enables students to acquire the skills required to manage creative tourism. Students, managers, professionals in tourism or creative industries, and entrepreneurs, you are all welcome. We are looking for passionate, committed, and entrepreneurial individuals who are ready to become key players in the tourism of tomorrow.
Program Highlights
Culture and creativity as central elements of the tourist experience
The cultural and creative sector encompasses a wide range of activities, characterized by specific strategic aspects and an increasing degree of hybridization. Dense and continually growing, it is shaping a new form of capitalism — one that is aesthetic, entrepreneurial, and cosmopolitan. Tourism is part of this sector as a leisure industry, but also as a cross-cutting sector linked to other creative industries.
Academic and professional expertise within a global network
The program is managed by KEDGE Arts School, an academic institute for arts and creative industries management whose permanent faculty members produce and share knowledge on the arts, culture, and creative industries in general, including tourism. From prestigious tourism institutions to small, dynamic creative businesses, the program also brings together numerous partners from the cultural and creative tourism sector. They share their practices as part of the program's teaching. These professionals guarantee high-quality contextual learning and networking opportunities for accessing the market.
A dual French and international approach
The program draws on France's best creative and cultural practices in tourism: France, the world's leading destination in terms of volume, is unique in the richness of its cultural heritage and the dynamism of its creative sector. Several study trips are organized in major creative tourism areas in France: Provence around Avignon, Corsica around Ajaccio, and the French Basque Country around Bayonne and Biarritz.
The program also draws on innovative practices developed by certain creative destinations internationally, primarily Spain, the world's leading destination in terms of value creation, but also the United States and Southeast Asia. This dimension will be enriched by the participation of international experts in a month-long international seminar, enabling the adoption of an intercultural approach that is essential in a sector where cultural diversity is a key skill.
An immersive and transformational pedagogy
The teaching approach is immersive, using methods such as on-site classes within cultural and creative tourism organizations, workshops with destinations and brands, and study trips both in France and abroad.
The program follows the paradigm of transformational learning, where students shift their perspectives to guide their future actions throughout their studies. Both education and tourism serve as transformational vectors, creating immersive experiences that foster a deeper understanding of social realities and a holistic awareness of the self.
This pedagogy offers students the opportunity to reflect on their career goals and acquire new skills to achieve them.
A riche diversity of students
Creativity stems from diversity. This program is made up of a group of French and international students with very different backgrounds (business school, tourism school, social sciences, art school, etc.).
Skills developed
- Creative, intrapreneurial, and entrepreneurial skills
- The ability to design and implement creative and innovative strategies
- Managerial skills
- Understanding of the specific characteristics of different tourism sectors within a comprehensive approach to the tourist experience that goes beyond hospitality
- The ability to design hybrid offerings across multiple creative industries
- Experiential and transformational skills to promote sustainable and socially responsible tourism
Key figures
- 1 unique creative tourism management program in Europe
- 1,000 students and 2,000 alumni in the creative industries
- 1 research center in France dedicated to the management of arts, culture, and creative industries, including tourism
- 90% of graduates find employment in the creative industries within 6 months at KEDGE Arts School
Creative tourism
Manager skills
- Tourism design
- Creative tourism marketing
- Creative tourism management
- Creative tourism strategy
- Creative territories
- Alternative tourism
Expertise skills
- Arts tourism
- Heritage & culture tourism
- Slow & nature tourism
- Taste tourism
- Entertainment tourism
- Sport & adventure tourism
Experiential skills
- Creative expeditions in France: Provence (avignon, arles), corsica (ajaccio, bastia), basque country (biarritz, bayonne)
- Creative world: Spain (Andalusia, Bilbao)
- Micro-adventure projects
- International seminar
- Masterclasses
- Immersive pedagogy
- Workshops
- 6-month internship in the tourism sector
- Applied research thesis
The aim of the program is to train the entrepreneurs and tourism managers of tomorrow who will work in the tourism, leisure, and culture sectors.
Our graduates will drive innovation by enhancing the creative dimension of tourism. They will work in tourist offices, travel agencies, e-tourism, and the hotel (luxury hotels, boutique hotels, or design hotels). They may also pursue careers in cultural organizations (museums, heritage sites, theaters, cultural centers or repurposed industrial sites), gastronomy, event management, theme parks, third places, and leisure activities.
The program also aims to train entrepreneurs capable of launching innovative initiatives in this dynamic sector.
Careers in the msc creative tourism management programme
Career opportunities in creative tourism management after completing the programme
Upon completion of the programme students will be qualified to take on a wide range of management roles in the sector, including management, production, strategy, marketing and communication. They will also be able to start their own business.
In the field of management and strategic development, graduates can hold positions such as director, entrepreneur, consultant, tourism development project manager or business developer. These roles involve team management, designing innovative strategies and creating new organisations or offers.
Finally, in the production of tourist offers and visitor services, roles include tourism product manager, package tour operator, guest relations manager, audience development manager, cultural mediation officer, and cultural or tourism event producer. These professionals design, organise, and implement offers tailored to the specificities of territories and the evolving behaviors of travelers.
In marketing, career opportunities are diverse: marketing director, brand manager, product manager, digital project manager, or partnerships and sponsorship manager. These roles aim to promote tourism offers, strengthen the reputation of organisations, and develop their appeal. In communications, graduates can become communications directors, event managers, press relations officers, brand content managers or social media managers. They are responsible for ensuring the visibility of organisations, managing their image and maintaining relations with the public.
Field of activity: creative tourism
- Tourist destinations: tourist offices, tourism development agencies, agencies specializing in tourism innovation
- Travel agencies and platforms
- Cultural and creative businesses: museums, heritage sites, cultural centers
- Third places: co-creation spaces, collaborative workshops, cooperatives, incubators
- Events and festivals: event agencies, cultural or tourism events
- Creative hospitality: boutique hotels, design hotels, luxury hotels, themed hotels and restaurants, tasting tours, culinary workshops, etc.
- Leisure and entertainment companies: theme parks, sports activities, games including escape games, creative activities
- Craft businesses: workshops, shops, exhibitions, etc.
Salary and career progression
Upon graduation, a creative tourism manager in france can expect an annual gross salary ranging from €28,000 to €35,000, depending on the size of the organization (public or private), the region, and the level of responsibility.
With several years of experience, particularly if they hold a management position or lead large-scale projects (project manager, head of a tourist office, etc.), their salary can range from €40,000 to €70,000 gross per year. International salaries are not included in this estimate.
Salary progression also depends on their ability to innovate, build partnerships, and demonstrate the economic, social, environmental, and cultural impact of their work.