Programme: PhD Tourism Management

Kindly take note of the disclaimer regarding qualifications and degree names.
Code Faculty
07267243 Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
Credits Duration NQF level
Minimum duration of study: 2 years Total credits: 360 NQF level:  10
Contact:
Prof EA du Preez
[email protected]
+27 (0)124203957

Programme information

Not all postgraduate programmes are offered every year. Please consult the relevant faculty's student administration concerning the presentation of this programme.

Admission requirements

  • Relevant Master’s degree with an average of at least 60%.

Additional requirements

The Postgraduate Committee reserves the right to prescribe additional modules/seminars for a candidate until he/she has met the specified requirements.

The Dean or Postgraduate Committee has the right of authorisation regarding matters not provided for in the General Regulations or the Faculty regulations.

Due to capacity constraints, there is not necessarily an intake of new students every year. It remains the applicant's responsibility to ensure that the degree they wish to apply for, will indeed be offered.

Research information

The research component comprises the writing of a thesis and a draft article for publication. A short proposal has to be submitted to the postgraduate programme manager. Upon approval of the proposal, a supervisor(s) will be appointed. The candidate will work under the guidance of his/her supervisor to develop a detailed research proposal according to the departmental guidelines and regulations. The proposal has to be approved by all relevant committees before the candidate can commence with the thesis. The candidate will then continue to work under supervision of his/her supervisor to complete the research and to develop and finalise a thesis according to departmental guidelines and regulations. A public defence of the final thesis is required as part of the examination process.

Before or on submission of the thesis, the candidate must submit at least one draft article for publication in a recognised academic journal. The draft article should be based on the research the candidate has conducted for the thesis and be approved by the supervisor. The draft article is a necessary condition for the degree to be conferred on the candidate.

The research component (thesis and draft article for publication) contributes 100% towards the total requirement for the degree. All prescribed modules are a prerequisite for the thesis.

An approved module from other programmes in other faculties can also be included with the consent from the Postgraduate Committee and the Postgraduate Committee of the other department concerned.

Core modules

  • Module content:

    • Developing the background to a research problem, and developing a problem statement and propositions and hypotheses relevant to their study.
    • Compiling a thorough literature review of the topics they intend to study.
    • Approaches to research: An overview of the different approaches to research (qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods) and the philosophical approaches that underpin them (positivism, post-positivism, interpretivism, constructivism, critical theory and pragmatism).  
    • Different research designs in quantitative and qualitative methods, and appropriate sampling approaches for the different research designs.
    • Qualitative research methodology: An overview of qualitative methods for organisational research. An overview of the different methodologies on a continuum between modernistic qualitative and post-modernistic qualitative research.  
    • Quantitative research methodology

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The information published here is subject to change and may be amended after the publication of this information. The General Regulations (G Regulations) apply to all faculties of the University of Pretoria. It is expected of students to familiarise themselves well with these regulations as well as with the information contained in the General Rules section. Ignorance concerning these regulations and rules will not be accepted as an excuse for any transgression.

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