Anna Grechkina
A professional tour guide in the North Caucasus, a specialist in social and cultural services and tourism
Today’s tourists are no longer satisfied with usual excursion programs offering a standard set of attractions. That is why the so-called immersive excursions are becoming increasingly popular when tourists are fully immersed in the atmosphere of the tour. EcoTourism EXPERT talked with Anna Grechkina, a professional tour guide in the North Caucasus, a specialist in social and cultural services and tourism, about this new approach and whether it is difficult to work out and organize such excursions.
- Have tourists really become more demanding today and require new excursion formats?
- Actually, it is not an either/or thing. Immersive excursions are interesting to tourists who are open to everything new. They do not need profound knowledge and they want to have an easy way of getting information. And, in addition, such excursions are for those who want their children to travel and enjoy excursions in general and get them accustomed to traveling.
People who got used to standard excursions, usually say that they do not have enough information when they take an immersive tour.
- It turns out that an immersive tour gives a slight idea on the subject and attractions, doesn’t it?
- It all depends on what is included into the tourism product. For example, my immersive excursion in Kislovodsk really gives a slight idea on the subject, and the immersive tour of Essentuki gives quite a deep knowledge.
- Please tell us about immersive excursions and whether they are in demand.
- Of course, there is no clear definition. If translated from English, this is an exposure to a new knowledge and atmosphere. But you can immerse a person in any atmosphere in different ways. It is possible to do this with the help of augmented reality, or with the help of various sounds, for example, the clatter of hooves, the sound of a moving carriage, pouring water, a ringing bell or a train.
When we tell a story and sounds complement it, the immersion effect appears and tourists are open to fantasy, they begin to imagine the situation they are being told about. That is, being immersed means not only to hear, but also to feel.
- It turns out that immersive excursions are less effective than standard ones in terms of getting information, but it is more difficult to prepare them, isn’t it?
- Absolutely right! For example, it took me six months to create a route in Kislovodsk that lasts only an hour and a half. And it took me almost a year to work out the route launched now in Essentuki, and I will keep on working on the tour to improve it.
Such excursions are much more labor-intensive, as a rule, several persons work during such excursions. In my particular case, this is a team of about ten people.
It is necessary to look for information, to process it. After all, when we hear the information, this is one thing, and when we receive the information through headphones, this is completely different. We ourselves listen to the information we offer to understand how it would sound in headphones and how tourists would perceive it.
- What is the problem?
- We work on this information in a recording studio, and it should not sound like an advertisement. For example, when I carried out a casting for actors to voice the tours, most of them could not sound like live communication, their voices sounded like in a commercial. I tried hard to explain them the task and asked them to imagine that they are talking to a real person and they want the person to fall in love with the city, its buildings and history. I have chosen only three persons who were able to do what I needed.
- For whom are these immersive excursions, for any tourist, or do you still have to divide the tourists into groups, for example, by age or by profession?
- It should be understood that there are various immersive excursions and they are created for different target audiences. For example, my project launched in Kislovodsk is designed for an audience that is fond of traveling and does not hesitate to perform some actions in front of other people. They are creative people open to new things, usually with children. And the project in Essentuki is different and, for example, not suitable for children as it is designed for a more adult audience. They need philosophy, profound knowledge and not a superficial one.
- But again, it is not an either/or thing, the main thing is to understand the task: for whom the tourism product is created?
- It turns out that immersive tours are not suitable for everyone.
Generally speaking, they are not. For example, they are difficult for understanding by children under the age of four. The kids will be interested in large glowing headphones, but most likely, they will not understand what is happening around them. Yes, of course, there are very smart children who join the team very quickly, but there are those who do not like and understand immersive excursions.
But it is possible to create an immersive tour just for these little kids, but with a different text and content. And this requires a psychological approach.
- Such immersive excursions are, probably, more expensive than standard ones?
- It all depends on what is included in the immersive excursion. If a group is accompanied by one guide, this means one price. If there are five actors during the tour, the price is different. If tourists not only watch and listen during the tour but also have lunch, this is the third option and its price is higher.
I had an order from a very large Russian company where we included a dancing party in the style of the 19th century into the tour program. We invited the girls in ball gowns and hats, they greeted the guests and danced with them. And then we went to another site and there was a different style there - the guests were greeted by smart dressers and they all danced the twist together. Of course, all this increases the price greatly.
- But in general, if to compare a standard sightseeing tour of Kislovodsk and a standard, if I may say so, immersive tour of Kislovodsk, which one is more expensive?
- The difference is small and a standard sightseeing tour of Kislovodsk is more expensive than an immersive one.
- Why so?
- During a sightseeing tour of the city, a transport vehicle is used, but no bus is used during an immersive tour. The immersive tour doesn’t take long, it lasts an hour and a half, and a sightseeing tour of the city lasts three hours. Tourists cannot take part in an immersive tour for three hours, because humans are arranged so that, first of all, we see, and then we hear. Besides, 90 minutes are the period for an immersive excursion when an aftertaste can appear as well a desire like “wow, I would like to see more!”
