In order to attract tourists. What attracts foreign tourists to Russia? What should your customer base look like?

During the excursion, tourists get distracted, stop listening and look around, and not at all where you are pointing? This situation occurs quite often, so every guide needs to master techniques for attracting attention.

1. Tailor the material for your specific audience

This advice is often perceived one-sidedly: only age differences are taken into account. Accordingly, they construct a story for a child and an adult in different ways. However, it is also worth making adjustments to the narrative related to the clients’ professional activities or hobbies. A site for meeting tourists and guides will help you find out this information: when arranging an excursion, not only answer the traveler’s questions, but ask him yours.

2. Use acting and public speaking techniques

Nothing contributes more to the distraction of tourists than the monotonous speech of a guide and the absence of gestures. Therefore, use various means of expression from the arsenal of speakers and artists:

• play with intonation and tempo of speech: switch from a cheerful patter to a sincere tone, emphasize important phrases with your voice, etc.;
• talk about sad and joyful events with appropriate emotions;
• take pauses between semantic blocks of the narration, otherwise listeners will stop assimilating what was said;
• support your speech with gestures: express emotions with them, point to interesting objects.

3. Make “lyrical digressions”

Allow yourself to periodically be distracted from the topic: tell us about some everyday details, love stories, fascinating incidents. Of course, digressions should be connected to your narrative in one way or another. Such “sketches” maintain interest in what is happening.

The personal approach works well. Your admiration, rejection or surprise at some historical character or event will be remembered by tourists for a long time. Just don't use this method in a story about modern realities so as not to provoke a conflict.

4. Ask questions

You shouldn’t turn a tour into a lecture when only the “teacher” speaks. In such a situation, listeners become distracted very quickly. Encourage discussion by asking clients what they know about the events, structures, and characters in your story. This will force people to get involved in what is happening, activate their memory, which means no one will look around and ignore the guide.

5. Make jokes

Don't be too serious when walking with clients: delight them with historical anecdotes, funny cases from practice, funny comparisons. Laughter allows you to relieve tension and listen to the guide with renewed vigor. And “on-topic” humor also helps to remember information: tourists will soon forget dry facts, but a joke will remain in the memory for a long time.

6. Use electronic technology

Modern gadgets will help you maintain your interest: tablets, netbooks, smartphones. The most fruitful work with them is on personal excursions, because in a group of 30-40 people it is unlikely that everyone will see what is happening on the screen. And when communicating face-to-face, this method is effective.

Think about what makes your city unique? To do this, make a list of all the events and attractions that are in your city. Tourists are more interested in the things they can do and see in a city rather than where it is located. First of all, tourists find out what entertainment is available in the city, and only then where it is located. Examples: observing white nights in St. Petersburg or rock climbing in Krasnoyarsk.

• Focus on events and attractions unique to the city. Even a small or strange attraction can attract visitors and attention to a city (from the world's largest paper clip to artificial waves on a river). Ask yourself: “What makes this city worth visiting? What is there that tourists can’t get or see somewhere else?”
• Work with your tourism development committee and focus on the three most exciting things your city has to offer. The more facts you provide, the more interesting the city will become for tourists.

Almost every Russian region calls the development of tourism a priority, but few can boast of real success in this matter. Meanwhile, experts in the field of territorial development believe that regions need to learn how to invest and earn money from tourism using modern business tools. " Russian tourism»discussed with experts how to properly attract tourists to the regions.

1. Decide on a goal. The authorities of any region must first decide why they need tourism, I’m sure CEO consulting company "Konkretika" Nadezhda Makatrova. The experience of Chukotka is indicative in this regard. It is obvious that millions of tourists will never come to the peninsula (it is far and expensive for most Russians), so the district leadership has set a very realistic target - two to three thousand travelers a year. The main task of the industry’s development is to occupy local population so that it does not leave for other regions and become an alcoholic, as, unfortunately, happens in a number of Russian regions.

But if the main goal is to replenish the treasury, you need to analyze your own resources and capabilities, the experience of your neighbors, existing demand, supply and decide on the correct positioning. Often regions don’t even need to invent something new; it’s enough to communicate with experts and tourists, find out, for example, on forums, why people most often come to this area, what they photograph, and what they recommend to friends to see.

2. Find differences. Sometimes regional administrations do not find an answer to one of the main questions: how will tourism here differ from tourism in other places? Meanwhile, positioning is the basis that determines the vector of development and helps tourists make the right choice. For example, in Altai there are practically no mosquitoes - a significant factor for lovers of outdoor recreation. But this information is known only local residents and, perhaps, to tourists from neighboring regions and is not at all obvious to Muscovites. However, neither the regional authorities nor travel agencies pay practically any attention to this.

“The formed tourism product should become as understandable as possible for tourists. In other words, people must clearly understand why they should go, for example, to resorts North Caucasus, and not, for example, to Turkey,” says Anna Dinelt, director of the Regional Marketing Agency.

3.Choose a slogan. This is another step in positioning the territory. Moreover, the very common “soul”, “heart”, “eyes” and other parts of the body of Russia are not very successful. You should not copy famous slogans of other countries. For example, the slogan “Smile, you are in Spain” when transferred to Russian reality can, at a minimum, cause a comic effect.

5. Don't stop halfway. A successful example of the start of promoting the image of territories can be the actions of two Siberian regions - Omsk and Kemerovo region. In the first case, the authorities took the path of creating an official brand, which has already begun to attract attention to the region. In Kemerovo, the myth about the existence of the Yeti is actively exploited, and journalists and film crews regularly come to Kuzbass to search for it. However, Anna Dienelt admits, these are only the first steps, which must be supported by a strategy: “It’s not enough to invent a logo and slogan. You can print them on a T-shirt, but what next? It is important that the region is included in the competition for hosting international events that can attract tourists.”

Belarus is open to the world. We want people to come to us, to talk about us, to come back here. One of the proofs is the introduction of a five-day visa-free regime for citizens of more than 80 countries. Of course, such an initiative contributed to the growth of tourist flows. However, this is not enough. Secretary General of the World tourist organization Taleb Rifai is convinced that our country is capable of receiving 2-4 times more tourists. How to achieve this? By creating and promoting a brand of Belarus that will tell foreigners about it.

It was the development of a brand for our country that became one of the key topics at the International Tourism Conference “Destination Branding: Innovative Ideas for Attracting Tourists,” which brought together more than 300 participants from 30 countries in Minsk last week.

No matter what anyone says, Belarus still remains a blank spot on the tourist map peace. Even if a foreigner has heard something about it, he does not understand what kind of place it is and what is special about it. The problem is that we ourselves cannot yet give a clear definition in this regard. Belarus is hospitable, picturesque, sporty... But what is the main thing here?

It has been noticed: when choosing a travel route, tourists have recently asked search engines not for a specific country, but for the attractions they offer. Eg, " leisure”, “best beaches”, “ancient architecture" and so on. Therefore, it is very important that the destination loudly and specifically declares itself to the world.

For example, Slovenia has been positioning itself as a green country for ten years. Green means ecological, active and healthy. The brand is recognized not only domestically, but also globally. To make this happen, to make it work, we had to spend a lot of years and resources. But the result was worth it - last year we wanted to visit this country

42 million people. The creation of the brand helped increase tourist flows to many countries - Georgia, Malaysia, India, Colombia and others. There is something to see in Belarus: beautiful nature, rich cultural heritage, developed sports infrastructure... However, all this should be united by one concept or slogan. For example, “beautiful”. This option was proposed by the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, Taleb Rifai:

A country's brand should reflect your values, what is important to you. “Beauty” can be a keyword when creating a country brand. It’s not for nothing that the Italian word bello, which means “beautiful,” is consonant with the name of Belarus.

At the conference, a proposal was made to make Belarus a romantic country, since there is a strong connection with history, traditions and legends. There was an option to present Belarus as a country where your interests will be shared.

Creating a brand is only a small part of the big job of attracting tourists. Once it is created, it is important to choose the right path to promote it. And standard methods will not work here. Billboards, posters at the airport, brochures at embassies and even advertising on TV are all of the past. Countries with a large flow of tourists engage primarily in online marketing, using popular platforms such as tripadvisor, expedia, and so on.

However, Belarusians can already boast of certain successes. A couple of months ago, we launched our own analogue of booking.com - the VETLIVA portal, which allows you not only to find out details about our country, but also to book any tourist services at any time and from anywhere in the world. Today, the site is visited daily by more than 4 thousand people.

Social networks also play a big role in popularizing a brand today. Their use helps to give life to a brand, quickly convey its meaning and conduct business dialogue between companies. Many countries attract celebrities - singers, actors, athletes - to popularize their national brand. More non-standard approaches can also be used. By the way, we have good example- branding of the Belavia aircraft by the Belarusian company Wargaming, the developer of the world famous game World of tanks. And the “tankolet” works well for the country’s image, says Wargaming PR manager Ivan Zhivitsa:

- “Boeing” with a bright inscription “A game from Belarus, which the whole world plays” is now flying to 28 countries. It has already carried hundreds of thousands of passengers. And millions saw it! No billboard advertising the sights of Belarus would have brought such success.

Every year the number of people traveling around the world is growing. In 2016, more than 1.2 billion people were looking for new experiences in different parts of the planet; in 2030, international experts predict, this number will reach 1.8 billion. As the number of tourists increases, so does the competition among destinations. And in order to take your place in the tourism market, you need not be afraid to expand the boundaries of your own vision and use creative methods to attract tourists.

OPINIONS

Janez Sirce, project manager “Support for sustainable development of tourism in Belarus”:

Belarus is of interest. People who come here for the first time are delighted with what they see here and who they communicate with. There is a need for the country to come up with its own brand and logo. At the same time, Belarusians must realize that when presenting the country on the world tourism market, they must present not only a logo, but also a quality tourism product, which will satisfy consumer demand.

Sandra Carvao, Head of Communications, World Tourism Organization:

A brand is an image in the minds of potential customers. This is who we are to others. But it's also who we really are. It’s not enough to just talk about the brand. It is important to illustrate it with action.

Tornike Zirakishvili, head of department international relations Georgian National Tourism Administration:

The main lesson I learned from marketing experience: what you don’t believe in doesn’t sell. Many destinations fall into the trap of trying to make something of themselves. You need to show who you are, what is your authenticity, what you really love.

IMPORTANT

Belarus is...

Several options for the country brand will be submitted for public discussion by the end of the year.

Now experts from the EU-funded project “Supporting Sustainable Development of Tourism in Belarus” are working on their development. They will choose the one who receives the highest score international experts, consultants, foreign tourists and Belarusians themselves. After all, when creating and promoting a national brand, it is very important that the local population likes it.

The project experts create not only the brand of Belarus. They have already developed a tourism development strategy and logos for five Belarusian regions and tourist sites: Naroch, Kamenets - Pruzhany, Mstislavl, Polotsk and the Augustow Canal. These are pilot destinations. The brand of each of them was created taking into account the history of the region, landscape, attractions and other characteristics. For example, they propose to position Naroch as a source of health. Mstislavl is like living history and an impressive landscape. And the Augustow Canal is a cross-border cultural heritage complemented by adventure activities. Project experts hope that the regions will use the developed brands and logos. It may take years for them to be accepted. local authorities, population, tourists. But if the brand works, the result will please everyone. In addition, pilot destinations should become an example for other regions of Belarus. I would like to believe that they are successful.

From Rostourism. In 2014, which is associated with the beginning of the crisis, 42,921 were registered tourist trips abroad among citizens of the Russian Federation. In 2017 - 39,629.

Yes, there is definitely a downward trend. But 7 or even 8 percent is not a figure that can “kill” the market. People travel, and the TOP 20 for 2017 includes Germany, Israel, Italy - countries with far from the lowest prices.

If so, where are the clients?

Many travel companies arose in the first decade after the collapse of the USSR. At that time, people who were just facing the collapse of the Iron Curtain simply had to be given a plane ticket and a hotel reservation, and that was it. The man is happy. He got away to see the world and can tell his friends what it’s like abroad.

Time has passed, and now the bulk of potential clients for the tourism business are children of the 80s and 90s. With a different worldview, more free and independent.

They don't want to lie belly up on the beaches of Antalya. Maybe once a year, when you need to take your parents and small child for a walk. And they don’t want to crowd together with dozens of complete strangers around yet another cathedral or monument. They can organize their own vacation via the Internet, without intermediaries.

What do they want? Bright, rich impressions that are difficult to get on your own. Flight to hot-air balloon over Cappadocia. A walk through the “secret” courtyards of Istanbul. A trip to the “hobbit village” in New Zealand. Participation in a national holiday. They want to realize their dreams and sparkle with beautiful photos on social networks.

Conclusion: the market is changing, and you need to change with it.

Promising niches for the next few years

Now we come to the main thing. You can talk as much as you like about how the world is changing, but where to run? What can be done to attract the current generation of tourists hungry for variety and experiences?

First of all, move from standard solutions to unique ones. Develop your own routes, establish relationships with new format tour operators, collaborate with private guides.

And most importantly, treat the tourism business as creativity, and not as a craft. Creativity is in fashion today - in the broadest sense of the word.

Here are some examples of fertile niches:

• Organization individual tours. People who have money don’t want to travel “like everyone else.” Give them the opportunity to book a tour from you with the maximum flexible terms, without standard solutions. Large tour operators such as TUI and PAC are already starting to explore this niche. They organize trips according to individual requests to almost any country in the world, without being tied to ready-made “packages”. There are also small private companies like White Label Travel, which specializes in the premium segment. But this part of the tourism market can still accommodate many companies.
• Organization of thematic tours. Bicycle trips, diving tours, cooking classes - find those areas that interest you and in which you can offer something unusual. It is with this approach that Velovuyki, which organizes cycling trips around Europe, or Safari Tour, which specialize in diving tours and dive safaris, have become popular in their niches. Large tour operators, by the way, also often make such programs - designed not for a wide audience, but for individual thematic segments. This means that the market exists.
• Organization of author's tours. Bloggers have huge readerships, and many of them specialize in the topic of travel. In partnership with them, you can develop unusual programs. For example, one of my favorite projects, Travel Inside, grew out of a purely “blogger” format. They do not have a special thematic niche, they use a different approach - they gather their own warm audience that travels only with them. You can do the same or enter into partnership agreements with popular bloggers and organize tours together.
• Organization of tourist groups in a club format. Accommodation, transportation, entertainment and attractions are the minimum for organized groups. But you can go further and organize parties, communication and other team building elements during your trips. Prominent representatives of this format can be One Life and Mikhail Kozhukhov’s Travel Club. Their clients are not just groups that meet every few days and say goodbye forever. No, they travel with them and with each other for many years.
• Organization of tours around Russia for foreigners. All the same approaches can be used within your own country (unusual, original, thematic tours). Examples include Express to Russia or ExploRussia, as well as foreign companies like Responsibletravel, which organize tours to Russia for foreigners. They focus not only on history and typical walks in the center of Moscow or St. Petersburg, but also on natural attractions, holidays, and national cuisine. The market exists, but is not yet filled with competition, and there is huge scope for new business.

Personal experience

I started working in the tourism business in 2015, in the midst of another crisis. The bulk of clients are from countries of the former Union. At that moment, my husband and I managed to intuitively find the right direction and we founded Time 2 Travel club - a company for organizing individual travel.

What worked well:

• Experience and own example. We travel a lot in Europe and Asia, we constantly write about it on our social networks, and clients trust our advice on choosing attractions and hotels. Moreover, they want us, as people who have seen everything with our own eyes, to advise them on the best options.
• Individual approach. We do not offer ready-made tours, but rather ask what the client would like. Yes, often the choice comes down to one of a dozen popular countries, for which we already have preparations. But this is how the client gets involved in the process, begins to plan the trip even before payment, feels that this is his trip, his dream is coming true. And, as a result, he goes with us until the very end, and does not look at how the competitors are doing.
• Honesty. We play openly and tell clients: here is the cost of travel, here is our commission. Oddly enough, they trade extremely rarely - apparently they understand that earnings on one trip are not so great, and do not fantasize about huge hidden fees. We also always tell people honestly what they are paying for, why one option is more or less expensive than another, and what to expect on the spot. This is highly valued and pays off handsomely in the form of positive reviews.

Organizing individual tours was a good decision and we decided to go further. Now we are expanding our business and will soon launch an online project under the same name Time 2 Travel - a search system that will unite organizers of excursions, tours and tourist entertainment, as well as travelers seeking extraordinary experiences.

Photo: on

This new project grew out of our pain as travel organizers: it is difficult to find quality excursions and entertainment. When clients ask to organize a walk around Istanbul or Paris, the last thing they want is to go on a standard “ historical information"Several hours long. I would like to find a person who loves this city, lives it and not only tells and shows, but gives travelers impressions.

Here we can return again to the issue of free niches in the tourism business. Agree, a tour guide is not the rarest profession. But if you don’t work like everyone else, but do something unusual, of truly high quality and from the heart, and not according to standard templates, it will be much easier for you to find your audience and sell them your services at good prices.

A few key words

Free niches are constantly appearing on the market and finding them is not so difficult. What is needed is to monitor how people's preferences change. Yesterday they simply wanted an organization within the framework of “visa, ticket, hotel” - they needed to meet these needs. Today they want entertainment, impressions and beautiful photos- you need to satisfy these new desires. Tomorrow this will also change and other tourism destinations will begin to gain popularity.

To keep your finger on the pulse, it is useful to read regularly social media and forums, listen to feedback, and most importantly, ask your audience directly. This should all be part of an ongoing and regular workflow.

Don't be afraid of negative reviews. When a client says something was missing, they are giving you the most valuable free consultation and actually pointing out where they can improve. In the same way, you can monitor your competitors’ reviews and get ideas: what their customers like and what they don’t like.

With this approach, you are unlikely to run out of ideas. Of course, then there will be a lot of work to implement the plan, but this is a topic for another story.