Lorea Bron - Testimonial MSc Tourism, Society and Environment

Can you describe briefly who you are and what you are currently doing? Could you give an example of what you are working on? Or what you have worked on before the summer?

Hi there BTO-er! I am Lorea, a 23 year old travel-lover who just finished the first year of the master Tourism, Society and Environment (MTO). Besides enjoying my summer holidays, I am currently getting ready to start my internship that is part of the second year of this master.

Why did you decide to do this program as a follow-up on the BSc Tourism? How does your BSc Tourism-program relate to the program you are currently doing (e.g. minors, free-choice courses, etc.)? Have you doubted between multiple programmes? Which ones?

I started the BTO in 2016, after I found out by coincidence that tourism was actually something you could study. From the first presentation in Wageningen I was hooked, and this feeling stayed with me throughout my bachelor. It was because of this that after completing the BTO in 2019, I wanted more, which is when I started looking for masters related to tourism. I ended up specifically choosing the master Tourism, Society and Environment at Wageningen University because it fits perfectly as a follow-up of the BTO (this can, for example, be seen in the fact that because of the knowledge you acquire in the BTO you can directly enroll for the MTO, without any other requirements).

How has the BSc Tourism helped prepare you for this master program?

I do feel that, overall, the BTO prepares you well for the MTO, such as making you comfortable with reading and writing academic papers, learning how to set up an academic research and, of course, providing you with the relevant knowledge about the tourism industry. Also the knowledge about statistics pays off, as graduates of the BTO in general do not have to take the statistics “refresher” course of the MTO: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Techniques in the Social Sciences (I was especially happy with this benefit).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of my classes were online. This will make my experience a bit different than that of previous students. The level of education was, in my opinion, not inferior to offline education. Wageningen University has well-established online education, so I never felt that this was an issue.

What I love most about the MTO is the enormous amount of free choice. There are only 3 mandatory common courses, the rest you are free to choose yourself (with some requirements, of course, relating to the trajectory that you choose). This really lets you get more knowledge on the topics that you are interested in - not necessarily related to tourism. For example, I took courses on intercultural communication, studying crisis, global migration and global landscapes and place-making. Besides this, I also love the close interaction with professors and other students; the master itself is not big, and also most classes are very small. This means that you get to know your peers and professors really well, and will develop a good connection with them. This also leads to more involving and interesting discussions during lectures. Another bonus point is that this master is highly unique, meaning that there are very few academic masters with a focus on tourism, which can be beneficial when entering the job market.

However, this is an honest review, and there are also some things I was a bit disappointed with when it comes to the MTO. For example, I had hoped to specialize a bit more on Sustainable Tourism. Even though you will learn some things about this topic, I feel that if you want to gain very hands-on knowledge on specific topics you should consider that this master is not the place to do that; it is a broad and academic master after all, the latter meaning that it will be more theoretical than practical. Besides, I do not feel that the focus of the master is very clear. Partly because of the enormous amount of free choice you have to create this focus yourself, but I had also hoped that the offer of tourism-related courses would be bigger. However, it is worth noting that besides these (very interesting but mostly) academic courses, the MTO does give you the opportunity to participate in the European Union Workshop (EUW) at the end of the first year; a consultancy project for a real client that you do with students from both the MTO and other masters. This does give you the opportunity to put your skills into practice and get a bit more hands-on experience. So, if you do want to do an academic master but are also after this kind of experience (like me) I would highly recommend registering for this project.

What do you do besides studying? Do you have a special interest or talent (e.g. part-time jobs, sports, hobbies, boards, etc.)? What do you think about the student-life?

 Besides my studies, I worked two evenings per week for the past year and also participated in a yoga class and a spanish class both once a week. This was very easy to combine with the workload of the master which, in my opinion, is less intense than that of the bachelor since you will normally have 2 courses per period instead of 3 (as is the norm during the BTO).

When it comes to student life, the MTO has a study association called ‘Licere’, for which I was registered. Due to the pandemic, however, we were unable to organize any (offline) activities, and since most classes were given online, it made it really difficult to create any sort of ‘normal’ student life. This made it quite a lonely experience at times, but I can imagine that this is the same for a lot of other studies, and that this is - luckily - not the norm! Besides, I was also living at my parent’s house; the experience would already have been different had I lived in a student house.

What are your future plans (e.g. thesis, internship, job prospects)?

 As I mentioned before, I am currently getting ready for my internship, which I will do at a Spanish organization specialized in sustainable destination certificates. Here I will probably work a lot with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, something I am very excited about! After this internship of four months the last semester of the second year will start, in which I will start writing my thesis, hopefully also related to sustainable destinations.

After finishing my masters, I have big plans to keep developing myself within the sustainable tourism sector (UNWTO I am coming for you). Even though I am considering doing some extra courses to get more hands-on experience within the tourism sector, I think this master gives me a very unique and valuable point of view on the industry that not many experts will possess.

Do you have any advice for future graduates of the BSc Tourism on choosing a fitting master program?

Overall, the MTO is a very unique programme great for students who want to continue in tourism, but also want to explore other fields related to society, environment and sustainable development and get a broad and academic education on these topics.

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