The lights dip. A countdown rolls on the screen. In the wings, someone checks a headset mic, and another is timing the walk-on down to the second. The audience does not see the spreadsheet, the risk assessment, the supplier calls, the sponsor approvals, or the last-minute cue change. They just feel it. That little surge of “this is special” which hits when an experience is designed properly.
Now, picture a different scene. A guest arrives after a long flight. They are tired, slightly stressed, and hoping the place looks like the photos. The welcome matters. The way the team moves matters. They want to feel at home, to feel like they belong, even briefly, in this place.
Behind the scenes, countless small decisions are at work: revenue, operations, service design, the timing of a meal, the comfort of food that restores rather than just fills. Together, these shape whether that guest leaves thinking, “I can’t wait to come back.
Both worlds create unforgettable experiences. They just do it in different ways, with different rhythms, pressures, and end goals. If you are trying to figure out whether your future lies in Events or in Tourism & Hospitality, here is a story-driven way which may help.
The moment vs the journey
Let’s follow two friends - Zara and Tobi - on the same day in London.
Zara is building a moment. She is planning a live experience that has a start time, a peak moment, and a finish. It could be a music night, a cultural festival, a charity gala, a product launch, a sports event, or a conference. Her job is to take an idea and shape it into something real: concept, budget, marketing, suppliers, production, people flow, guest experience, and evaluation. On Greenwich’s BA (Hons) in Events Management & Innovation, that idea-to-reality piece is at the heart of it with a strong focus on designing, planning, marketing and evaluating events with an innovation mindset as well as from a responsible business perspective that helps you keep experiences fresh.
Tobi is building a journey. He is thinking beyond a single night and looking at a full customer experience across time and place: where people go, why they travel, what they do when they arrive, and how hospitality services make that feel seamless. On our BA (Hons) in International Tourism & Hospitality Management, the course is built around developing future leaders for tourism and hospitality sectors, with sustainability and responsibility woven in, plus hands-on elements like simulations, internships and an international study tour.
Same city. Same goal: make people feel something. Two different types of “unforgettable”.
What you actually do in each career
Events are project-powered. You live in timelines, briefs, budgets, stakeholders and delivery days. You are designing experiences, developing comprehensive delivery plans, pulling together teams to execute plans and monitoring their impact on surrounding communities. What makes Events distinct is the intensity of delivery: the work builds, peaks, and then you are straight into the debrief and the next brief.
Greenwich’s undergraduate Events Management & Innovation degree practically leans into that reality: you organise one event per year on the full-time route, backed by teaching and industry mentoring. You can build hands-on experience through volunteering and work experience opportunities made available in the course. This practical, real-world focus helps you build a portfolio of experience employers can see and trust. It also covers areas like entrepreneurship and innovation, digital marketing, festival and live entertainment events and crowd management. Plus, the degree is formally recognised by the Institute of Event Management (IEM), which signals alignment with industry standards.
Tourism and hospitality is a sector-wide strategy. You look at destinations, visitor economies, sustainability, accessibility, and how tourism and hospitality experiences are designed, delivered, and marketed. This includes accommodation, food and beverage, and guest services alongside travel. You might end up shaping destination marketing, managing hotels orresorts, working in aviation and airports, cruise operations, or building travel experiences people remember for years.
On Greenwich’s undergraduate International Tourism & Hospitality Management degree, you can study a second language, and the course is framed around the UN Sustainable Development Goals with partnerships including ABTA and the Institute of Hospitality, plus strong practical exposure through the internship, study tour and industry-facing learning.
A quick way to choose: ask yourself these three questions
- Do you like planning, being creative and seeing your ideas come to life?
If you love coming up with creative ideas, planning and organising, working on different projects and troubleshooting, Events is probably your thing. - Do you care about making experiences repeatable at scale?
If you like improving systems, leading teams, and turning quality into a standard, Hospitality is a strong fit. - Do you get excited by places, cultures, movement, and the bigger picture?
If you want to understand why people travel and how destinations and experiences are designed responsibly, Tourism & Hospitality Management should feel like home.
Where these degrees can take you
Events Management can lead you into corporate events, festivals, cultural and music events, charities, weddings, conferences, plus adjacent areas like marketing, PR, hospitality and tourism.
International Tourism & Hospitality Management can take you towards roles like hotel and resort management, food and beverage management, cruise director, destination marketing and sales, aviation and airport management, tourism policy, tour operations, or even to launching your own venture.
The real truth: you are not picking a “better” path, you are picking a pace
Events require organisation, multitasking, creativity and attention to detail. Hospitality is consistent, people-led, and operational. Tourism and Hospitality is broader, global, and strategy-meets-experience.
Explore all our Events,Tourism and Hospitality degrees and choose the course that matches how YOU want to make an impact.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please note that course timetables, the availability of modules and opportunities offered to, and services for, students can change over time - i.e. things may not be available from one year to the next - and that some things may also not be available to you if you are joining Greenwich as a direct entry student. In the case of modules, please always check the 'What will you study' section of the course webpage for the course and entry year you are interested in. You can find an index of all our subject areas, within which you will find the individual course pages, at: https://www.gre.ac.uk/subjects
