International Degree Programme: Cruise Industry Management

Holiday travel has reached a level of tremendous significance world-wide as an economic factor. Holidaymakers have an enormous choice of how to spend the best days of the year. Over the last 15 years, a special type of holiday has proven to be particularly booming, crisis-resistant and innovative: the cruise. The rates of growth in this sector, with a global annual turnover of some 16 billion €, are about 8-10% per year. So that cruises are exciting, eventful, relaxing and at the same time affordable for the passengers and profitable for the suppliers, a lot of hard work must be done behind the scenes both on board and on land, even if it doesn’t appear so from the outside. A wide variety of aspects play a role in the preparation and implementation of cruises: Economics, tourism, hotel trade and gastronomy, entertainment, technical aspects, logistics, navigation, safety, environmental protection, languages, cultures – and above all people. All these aspects must be planned, steered and monitored or at least taken into consideration and integrated. This is referred to as “management”. Since the autumn of 2003, the only study course world-wide which is targeted at preparing students for management tasks in the cruise sector has been part of the curriculum at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences.

Homepage of Cruise Industry Management:
www.cim.hs-bremerhaven.de

• Objectives and special features 
• Employment opportunities for graduates 
• Structure of the programme 
• Admission conditions 
• Application 
• Professors 
• Advice for students 
• Three Frequently Asked Questions 
• Beyond the CIM course 

 HS_-_CIM_2008__RZ_A08-XXXX_HS_-_CIM_2008__RZ.pdf
 Cruise Industry Management brochure

 CIM_Flyer_Internet.pdf
 

Objectives and special features

The Cruise Industry Management (CIM) programme educates future leaders for the tourism and cruise sector. The aim is for graduates - after a short period of induction - to take on responsibility and be in a position to perform tasks independently at home and abroad. The concept of the CIM programme was developed in close cooperation with enterprises in the cruise sector and in accordance with their requirements. The programme features the following highlights:

- An award-winning businees degree programm
- Either 3 or 4 years of full-time study
- Qualification al Bachelor of Ars (BA)
- Limited to 40 places per year
- Teaching languages are English (79%) and German
- One term at a university abroad as part of the 4-year programme
- 2 terms of project work for external clients

Employment opportunities for graduates

CIM is a business degree programme with a major focus on the tourism and cruise sector. Thus graduates are primarily prepared for commercial, planning or coordinating positions in enterprises in this sector. Examples are product management, marketing, sales, purchasing and personnel. Future employers are shipping companies, cruise operators and agencies as well as their suppliers and partners. Tasks for which the graduates are suitably qualified are mostly land-based. Few commercial staff are needed on the cruise ships themselves. However, in any case it makes sense to spend some time on board ship either during the internship or after the final examinations in order to gain some product knowledge. Hotel firms, package holiday companies, travel agency chains, destination management companies, trade associations and public institutions in the tourism sector are also potential employers. Thanks to the wide range of topics covered in the programme, the different languages and the practical focus, graduates are also in a position to pursue careers in other areas of the leisure industry and related service sectors.

Structure of the programme

The CIM curriculum is divided into the three areas ”Business and Management”, ”Tourism and Cruises” and ”Complementary Contents”.

”Business and Management” comprises the business courses such as financial and cost accounting, financial management, human resources and marketing. Parts of this area are also service operations management, strategic management and international management. ”Tourism and Cruises” represent CIM’s focus area. Introductory courses in tourism and cruise management are complemented by hospitality and restaurant management, tour operating and travel distribution, event management, a cruise industry panning game and more.

”Complementary Contents” reflects the great variety of CIM. Mathematics and statistics, law, foreign languages, nautics and itinerary planning, ship design and technology, logistics, information systems and many ”soft skills” courses form this area.

Since 2006, there are two versions of CIM:
The 3-year version including a 3-month internship. Graduates collect atotal of 180 credit points, allowing them to continue their studies on a 2-year Master’s programme.
The new 4-year version - called ICIM - comprises a 6-month internship and a full semester of studies at a partner university abroad. Graduates earn a total of 240 credit points, giving them access to Master’s programmes in Britain and the United States.

Admission conditions

Students wishing to be admitted to the course must generally hold a schoolleaving certificate which permits admission to university-level studies. Information about the possibility of special admission conditions can be obtained from the Admissions Office of Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. European and US American school-leaving certificates are generally recognised. Should you have obtained a school-leaving certificate in another country, you must present your certificates to the ASSIST office for checking. Further details can be found under www.uni-assist.de.
We additionally expect you to have a very good command of German and English which must be substantiated by official language certificates in the case that German or English are not your native languages. In general, Level C1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is required (provable during the first term).

Application

To apply for the CIM programme, you must complete in full the
application form and either submit it in person or by mail along with the necessary documentation to the Admissions Office before the closing date. The application form can be obtained either from the Student Counselling Centre or on the website of the Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. Closing dates for applications and other deadlines are published on the university’s homepage or can be obtained from the Student Counselling Centre. To apply for the CIM programme, you must complete in full the application form and either submit it in person or by mail along with the necessary documentation to the Admissions Office before the closing date. The application form can be obtained either from the Student Counselling Centre or on the website of the Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. Closing dates for applications and other deadlines are published on the university’s homepage or can be obtained from the Student Counselling Centre.

Professors

Advice for students

The Central Student Information answers general enquiries about the course. Contact:

The Admissions and Examination Office is responsible for questions about admission requirements. Contact:

Questions about course content should be addressed to:

Three Frequently Asked Questions

“Why should I in particular study Cruise Industry Management?“
Firstly: The Cruise Industry Management course is unique world-wide. Express your own uniqueness and show how you are different from the rest. Secondly: For some time now cruises have been that part of the tourism sector with the strongest rate of growth. Assuming that you are flexible in terms of mobility, your professional prospects are good. And thirdly: Tourism and in particular the cruise sector are super fields of activity in an international environment with a wide diversity of development possibilities and exciting products.

“Do I really have to study Cruise Industry Management to work in the cruise sector?”
No. To date there has not really been any typical profile for management positions in this sector. Most people in management have worked their way up over many years from simple service tasks. Others have switched over from other sectors, often by chance. However, if you are determined to take on demanding tasks in the cruise sector in the short term, then the course is an excellent starting point.

“Might I not be too specialised in cruise tourism after this course?”
Not at all. Cruise Industry Management is something for decathletes. You have to get to grips with the three languages just as with mathematics and statistics; you have to deal with legal cases in the law classes and calculate routes with sea charts and tide tables in the navigation lessons; in the sociology classes you will learn about the nature of human communities and ship operation technology means you will occupy yourself with different types of propulsion and material cycles on board.

Above all, however, you will be given a thorough education in the field of economics which is universally applicable in any sector and any country. There is also in-depth training in tourism management. After all, according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), 7% of all jobs world-wide are in tourism.

Beyond the CIM course

The many people involved in the CIM course are aware of the importance and special nature of the course offer and are working closely together with considerable personal commitment and much pleasure in its further development. Thus three initiatives have evolved since 2003:

Cruise Industry Management Advisory Committee

The Committee performs an advisory function for the CIM course. Its members – all of them key figures in the German and international tourism and cruise sector – are committed above all to ensuring that the course is market-oriented and maintains an international focus. They are given progress reports at regular meetings, contribute their experience and are a source of important contacts.

Institute of Maritime Tourism

The Institute forms the organisational core of research activities in the field of tourism at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. Institute staff compile studies for enterprises, associations and public bodies, offer training courses and workshops, publicise and organise congresses on specialist topics. Interested students also have the opportunity to participate in these activities.

SEEGANG e.V.

This association, whose name is an abbreviation for SEEtouristischer StudienGANG, was founded by CIM students in April 2005. Their aim is to organise additional excursions, tours of ships and guest lectures; assist in securing internships and take care of trainees; set up a network of former students and make the course and the University better known. But organising university parties should not go unmentioned here either.