Master's Degree in Urban Tourism
Barcelona, Spain
Master degree
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
Spanish
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
EUR 19 / per credit *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* 19.37 euros per credit (82 euros for students who are not EU nationals and do not currently reside in Spain). Fees for the academic year 2025-2026
Key Summary
About: The Master's in Urban Tourism at The University of Barcelona focuses on urban tourism, smart-city models, destination entrepreneurship and smart tourism. It covers urban tourism theory, production-consumption structures, planning, management, project design. The course prepares professionals and researchers to design and manage urban tourism projects. It's aimed at tourism graduates and holders of related social, economic or legal degrees seeking advanced, specialized training in city tourism, destination management and urban policy.
Career Outcomes: Graduates can work as urban tourism managers, destination managers, tourism planners, policy advisors, tourism entrepreneurs, smart tourism researchers, and consultants in urban development and cultural tourism.
The master's degree in Urban Tourism provides an opportunity to train in a very dynamic professional area with excellent future prospects, in a context of rapidly changing cities, increasing consolidation of the smart city model, and the emergence of the urban environment as a tourism hub. The course focuses specifically on urban tourism, unlike other courses that cover tourism in general. It includes two new areas: entrepreneurship in urban destinations; and knowledge generation and smart tourism.
The master's degree in Urban Tourism was designed to meet the increasing demand for formal knowledge of urban tourism at postgraduate level, in a context of rapidly changing cities, increasing consolidation of the smart city model, and the emergence of the urban environment as a tourism hub. The general objective is to train high-level professionals and researchers to work in existing and new professional roles, designing and managing projects related to tourism production and consumption and activities associated with tourism in urban environments.
The course differs from other master's degrees in tourism that have a broader focus and more general content. It is a specific course covering the main principles of urban tourism, the structure of production and consumption, and direction, planning and management. In addition, two fundamental new areas are included: entrepreneurship in urban destinations; and knowledge generation and smart tourism.
The master's degree is aimed at graduates in tourism and holders of related degrees in the human, social, economic and legal sciences who wish to complete advanced, specialized training in preparation for careers in various areas of urban tourism.
For more information about scholarships, please visit the university website.
The University of Barcelona consistently ranks among the top institutions nationally, in Europe, and worldwide. Its performance in the most prestigious international rankings reflects excellence in teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and global engagement.
- Ranked 1st nationally in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)
- Ranked 1st nationally in the THE (Times Higher Education) World University Rankings
- Ranked 1st nationally and 68th in Europe in the QS World University Rankings
- Ranked 1st nationally and 27th in Europe in the Best Global Universities Rankings
Studying at the University of Barcelona means joining a world-class academic community recognized for its innovation and impact.
Learning objectives
- To provide students with knowledge of the fundamental principles and dynamics of the city and the characteristics of tourism.
- To train students to master theoretical and conceptual tools for analysing and interpreting complex urban and tourism phenomena.
- To acquire training in the use of new information and communication technologies in urban tourism, the management of databases in tourism companies and institutions, big data, and components of the new 'smart destination' paradigm.
- To train students to make decisions in positions of responsibility in tourism companies and related institutions.
- To develop professional profiles that reflect the importance of innovation in business management, and the need to understand and apply tourism intelligence.
- To acquire training in the analysis and understanding of tourism production and consumption processes in cities, in order to identify strengths and weaknesses and enable students to undertake projects and initiatives related to the economic and institutional framework of tourism in urban and metropolitan areas.
- To train students to critically analyse, appraise and integrate the different aspects of complex issues.