Proof of the importance of tourism to the economy - as well as its wide ranging scope - is increasingly found in the impressive study courses on offer.

The University of Limerick, for instance, has been running an MA in international tourism for three years now. Jointly initiated by the university's Department of Economics and the National Centre for Tourism Policy Studies, the MA came about in response to the need for a more professional group of graduates to work in industry.

Over the three years since it was set up, graduates from disciplines as diverse as economics, sociology, politics and languages have qualified from the MA programme and are now, UL assures, working in a variety of tourism-related sectors. Prof Donal Dineen is head of the university's Department of Economics and says that what distinguishes the course is "its international element. At present we have a student from China, one from Japan and another from America. We've a retired teacher taking the MA too. He's someone who was always interested in tourism and commutes from Cork to take the course. This year we've 13 full-time and two part-time students. Our target figure is 15 to 20 students per year but we do require honour students."

The emphasis during the MA studies is on the economics of tourism but students also take courses in tourism planning, marketing and management of tourism services, and tourism evaluation. There is a strong focus on developing the research skills of the students and close links are maintained with the tourism industry in this country and with leading tourism academics from overseas.

FIELD trips to tourism enterprises are an integral part of the programme. Students also have access to a special tourism collection housed in the university's Glucksman library which has all the internationally recognised tourism journals, periodicals and books in the field.

Then there's Colaiste Stiofain Naofa, College of Further Education, Tramore Road, Cork, which has been running a course in tourism and heritage management for more than 10 years. In that time the college has trained nearly 300 students, many of whom are now working in the heritage industry.

Colaiste Stiofain Naofa points out that the course is designed to facilitate students "who are impassioned by aspects of Irish culture, heritage and the arts to materialise their interests into real employment potential".

At its core the course is a study of Irish culture and tradition. Its treatment of archaeology, for instance, takes in a survey of prehistoric and medieval archaeology in this country as well as a thorough grounding in archaeological techniques and approaches used by archaeologists in uncovering and interpreting the past.

Other subject areas include folklore and ethnology, cultural and social history, heritage resource management, literary, visual and performing arts, tourism studies and guiding skills and visitor attraction management.

At least 30 full days are spent outside the classroom. Students spend four weeks working with a tourism/heritage employer and those who successfully complete the course receive a National Vocational Certificate (Level 2): cultural heritage studies, a CERT certificate in tourism awareness and an Order of Malta certificate in general first aid.