Studies & Degrees in Tourism Marketing

Tourism Marketing Study Programs

Tourism marketing applies marketing to destinations, hotels, airlines, travel agencies, attractions and events. It deals with questions such as who travels and why, how a place or a company presents itself, at what price and through which channels a trip is sold, and how visitors are kept satisfied. The market is large: UN Tourism estimates that 1.52 billion international tourists were recorded worldwide in 2025, 4% more than the year before, and Spain's statistics office (INE) reports that Spain received close to 96.8 million international tourists that year, the highest figure in its series.

Students learn market research and segmentation, branding and promotion of destinations, product design and pricing, distribution through agencies and online platforms, digital marketing and social media, and revenue management, the practice of adjusting prices and availability to demand. Languages are part of most programmes, because the customers are international.

Qualifications and levels

Tourism marketing is rarely a degree of its own. It is a subject within tourism and marketing degrees and a common specialisation at postgraduate level.

• Bachelor's degrees: in Spain an official bachelor's degree (grado) has 240 ECTS credits. The Grado en Turismo taught at The Open Faculty in Murcia, an official centre of the tourism faculty of the Universidad de Murcia, lasts four years, is taught in Spanish online and on campus, and includes Marketing Turístico as a second-year subject. CETT in Barcelona teaches an official four-year, 240-credit degree in marketing, events and entertainment awarded by the Universitat de Barcelona.
• Master's and postgraduate programmes: official university master's degrees in Spain have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits. Many tourism marketing programmes are instead a university's or school's own qualification. CETT's master's in revenue management, digital marketing and social media has 60 credits, runs online for one academic year in Spanish and is an own qualification of the Universitat de Barcelona. CESAE Business & Tourism School in Madrid, which teaches online, lists a master's in revenue management, marketing and tourism communication and a short course in tourism marketing.
• Vocational training (FP): the Spanish higher vocational qualifications in tourism include the module Marketing turístico in the first year. This is the case for the Técnico Superior en Agencias de Viajes y Gestión de Eventos and the Técnico Superior en Guía, Información y Asistencias Turísticas, both listed on TodoFP, the education ministry's vocational training portal.

Where to study it

SpainExchange lists 14 active schools for tourism marketing. Ten are in Spain, and there is one each in Indonesia, Italy, Peru and the United Kingdom. Barcelona has several of the Spanish schools, among them CETT and Euroaula Escola Universitària, a university school affiliated with the Universitat de Girona. The list also includes The Open Faculty in Murcia, CESAE in Madrid, EIG in Granada and the vocational training centre Decroly in Santander. Outside Spain it includes the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Petra Christian University in Surabaya, Mont Rose College of Management and Sciences in London and the Swiss School of Management in Rome.

The programmes described above are taught in Spanish, and CETT's bachelor's degree also uses Catalan. When comparing courses, check whether the qualification is official or the school's own, whether a work placement in a tourism company is included, and how much of the content is digital marketing and data analysis, since much tourism distribution is now online.

Careers

Graduates work in the marketing and sales departments of hotel groups, airlines, tour operators and travel agencies, in destination marketing organisations and tourist boards, in event companies and in digital agencies that serve the travel sector. TodoFP names roles such as commercial promoter of travel and tourism services, tourism promoter and local tourism development agent for holders of the vocational qualifications. Revenue manager, digital marketing specialist and market analyst are typical roles for university and master's graduates.

There are no official employment statistics for tourism marketing as such. For marketing occupations in general in the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of advertising, promotions and marketing managers to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, and employment of market research analysts to grow 7 percent over the same period.

Frequently asked questions

Is tourism marketing a degree in its own right?

Usually not. It is taught as a subject within tourism or marketing degrees and vocational qualifications, and as a specialisation in master's and postgraduate programmes.

How long does it take to study tourism marketing in Spain?

An official bachelor's degree has 240 ECTS credits and takes four years. A master's programme such as the one at CETT has 60 credits and takes one academic year.

Can tourism marketing be studied online?

Yes. CETT's master's in revenue management and digital marketing is taught online, CESAE teaches its programmes online, and The Open Faculty offers its tourism degree online and on campus.

What jobs can I get with tourism marketing studies?

Typical roles are in the marketing and sales teams of hotels, travel companies and destinations, for example tourism promoter, digital marketing specialist or revenue manager.