Enter OTP
The Economics of Tourism and Cities bachelor's program at the University of Bologna's Rimini Campus is a 3-year English-taught degree that blends economic principles with sustainable tourism and smart city development, perfect for students passionate about how tourism drives growth and urban innovation. You'll customize your path with tracks in Sustainable Tourism or Smart Cities, gain hands-on internships with industry leaders, and build global perspectives for careers in tourism planning, private enterprises, or public roles—making it an ideal choice if you're eager to shape the future of vibrant destinations.
Curriculum structure
First Year
You'll kick off with foundational skills in Statistics and Tourism Economics, diving into descriptive stats, probability, inference, and linear regression to analyze tourism's economic impacts, while exploring how tourism links to growth, development, globalization, and sustainability through lab work on data research methods and Stata analysis. This builds your ability to measure tourism flows, evaluate specialization versus sustainability, and handle real-world economic data right from the start.
Second Year
Building momentum, you'll tackle Spatial Economics, mastering models of urban systems, monocentric economies, new city formation, hierarchical urban growth, and policies on housing and socio-economic challenges, complete with group presentations and debates on empirical evidence. Courses emphasize workers' mobility, transport costs, and scale economies, equipping you to assess land use patterns and urban policies in tourism-heavy contexts.
Third Year
In your final year, advanced modules deepen your expertise with electives in specialized tracks, integrating hands-on projects and internships that apply economic tools to real tourism and city challenges, preparing you for professional impact. You'll synthesize knowledge from prior years into capstone work on international trends, sustainability, and smart development, ensuring you're ready to lead in global industries.
Focus areas
Sustainable Tourism and Smart Cities tracks, emphasizing economic growth, urban systems, environmental sustainability, and data-driven policy.
Learning outcomes
Master tourism's economic measurement and impacts; analyze spatial urban equilibria, growth models, and policies; conduct empirical research with stats tools like Stata; critically evaluate sustainability, development, and global trends for informed decision-making.
Professional alignment (accreditation)
Awarded as a Laurea (L-33 Economics class) by the University of Bologna, with restricted access via entrance exam (120 spots), fully recognized across EU for careers in tourism economics, urban planning, and international enterprises.
Reputation (employability rankings)
University of Bologna ranks among Europe's top universities for economics and tourism research, with Rimini Campus excelling in high-quality teaching, multicultural environments, and strong industry ties—grads are primed for global roles in booming tourism and smart city sectors.
At the University of Bologna's Rimini Campus, the Economics of Tourism and Cities bachelor's program stands out for its hands-on approach, where you'll dive into practical skills through internships with industry leaders and interactive sessions that build real-world expertise in sustainable tourism and smart city development. You'll gain global perspectives by applying economic principles to tourism destinations and urban systems, all while leveraging Rimini's status as a major tourist hub for authentic, on-the-ground learning. This sets you up perfectly for careers in tourism planning or smart city initiatives, with customizable tracks to match your interests.
Here's how the program and campus make experiential learning come alive:
- Internships with industry leaders: Get direct experience through structured internships, turning classroom knowledge into professional skills in tourism and urban economics.
- Group projects and interactive sessions: Courses like International Trade in Services feature student group presentations and in-class debates on urban policy, agglomeration economies, and city development, fostering teamwork and policy analysis.
- PC Rooms and digital tools: Access 20 PCs for web browsing, database consulting, scanning, and printing in the Rimini Campus Central Library, plus university Wi-Fi everywhere to support data-driven tourism research.
- Library and Digital Library: Study in dedicated spaces at Via Vittime Civili di Guerra, 5, with extensive collections, online services, co-working areas (bookable seven days a week), and staff support for critical thinking on tourism topics.
- Rimini's real-world labs: Live and learn in a top tourist destination that serves as a living case study for the program's focus on tourism systems and smart cities.
Imagine applying right now to join this vibrant setup—spots are limited (just 120 via entrance exam), and it's fully in English at an international campus.
Graduates from this programme are well-prepared for careers at the intersection of economics, tourism, and urban development. You’ll develop practical and analytical skills that open doors to roles such as tourism development analyst, urban policy assistant, sustainability consultant, or economic planning officer. Thanks to its strong international focus and hands-on approach, you’ll graduate ready to work across both public and private sectors:
Further Academic Progression:
After completing this degree, you’ll be in an excellent position to continue your studies at the master’s level. Many students move into specialised postgraduate programmes in areas like economics, tourism management, urban planning, public policy, or data analytics. You could also pursue professional master’s programmes such as data science or business analytics, allowing you to further specialise and expand your career opportunities in global and high-growth sectors.
The programme has 120 places: 50 reserved for non-EU students abroad, with the first intake offering 35 places for EU/assimilated students and 50 for non-EU abroad, the second intake 35 for EU/assimilated students, and a third intake only if spots remain from the first two.A 5-year upper secondary school diploma (including teacher training or art schools with an extra year if required)A 4-year specialist secondary school diploma from a recognised national programmeA 5-year diploma without a supplementary year, with additional university requirements to be completed by March 2027An international qualification after at least 12 years of schooling, valid for university admission in Italy according to official regulationsAdmission is based on the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test), an in-person test conducted by College Board that evaluates logical, mathematical, and verbal skills, with a maximum score of 1600 and required for application.IELTS (Academic): B2 level typically corresponds to a score of 5.5 – 7.0 bandsTOEFL iBT: B2 level typically corresponds to 72 – 94 (internet‑based)IB: 28–32 points (32+ competitive)A‑Level: AAB–AAACBSE: ~88–92%USA GPA: ~3.3–3.7/4.0Tourism AnalystUrban PlannerEconomic Research AssistantHospitality ManagerEvent ManagerTravel ConsultantSustainable Tourism CoordinatorMarket Research AnalystPolicy Advisor – Tourism & CitiesBusiness Development Associate – Travel & HospitalityRevenue Manager (Hotels & Tourism)Tourism Marketing SpecialistDestination Management ExecutiveTourism Data AnalystInternational Tourism Coordinator
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