Excursion is a method of broadening one's horizons. The purpose of attending this event is to gain knowledge about a particular subject, place or event. Due to the breadth of the concept of excursion activities, there are many types of excursions, into which they are divided according to some characteristic features.
What is a tour
The word "excursion" comes from Latin and means a walk or a trip. This term means an individual walk or trip to remarkable places of interest from a scientific, educational or entertainment point of view. There are three elements involved in the excursion: the guide, the excursionist and the object (or subject) of the excursion.
The object of the excursion is an object or phenomenon of historical, cultural, aesthetic or scientific value. A visit to a place of interest is supervised by a guide. This is a qualified specialist who is able to give detailed information about the object to the sightseer. One or more tourists take part in the inspection of the object, depending on the type of excursion.
The purpose of the tour determines its direction. Often the trip has a pleasurecharacter. Such trips are an integral part of tourism activities. Otherwise, the excursion becomes an educational event.
An important distinguishing feature of the excursion is the opportunity to contemplate the object and receive information about it. Without contemplation, the excursion becomes a lecture; without the informative aspect, the excursion becomes an inspection.
History
The first excursions, according to many historians, include pilgrimages to holy places. The Olympics in Ancient Greece are classified as excursions of a sports nature. But only at the beginning of the twentieth century, excursion activity became an independent direction. The development of transport routes and tourism has largely contributed to this. The upper classes were able to travel freely around the world, as well as send their children to study in other countries.
Simultaneously with travel, educational excursion activities with children began to be held. Their main goal was to familiarize students with the environment, that is, they were various types of excursions into nature. At the same time, the profession of "tour guide" was born. The active development of excursion activities led to the formation of various companies involved in organizing and conducting excursions.
Classification
Currently, to classify such activities, they use the features identified by the scientist-excursionist B. E. Raikov, who is the founder of excursion work. Excursions are divided into types and forms depending on the followingsigns:
- Content.
- Composition and number of excursionists.
- The place where the tour takes place.
- The way to move the tour group.
- Duration of event.
- Tour form.
Each of the above types of excursions has individual characteristics and characteristics.
Classification purposes
The need to classify excursion activities arose for many reasons. The main one is the simplification in the preparation and development of excursion activities. When planning a walk, it is important to consider that it should not only be educational, but also bring positive emotions. Therefore, for an effective tour, it is not enough to know the subject of the show.
The guide needs to be well versed in the place of the walk, to choose the best view points. The tour should have some plot, which, talking directly about the object, will be supplemented with interesting facts and the inclusion of the object's connections with famous personalities or significant events.
In the case of a long walk, the guide must provide several breaks in the story for the group to rest. For some types of excursions (in elementary school, for people with disabilities), the characteristics of the group should be taken into account.
Contents
The content of the tour divides it into two types: overview and thematic. A sightseeing tour is a type of excursion that, in terms of content, ismultifaceted. Sightseeing tours, as a rule, are held to describe a city, region, enterprise or natural object. Such excursions have a certain structure. The Property Overview has several themes and sub-themes, highlighting the large span of time the property has existed and linking the property to various historical events.
For example, when reviewing a city, the architectural subtopic includes a description of the features of urban development, natural history - talks about the flora and fauna of the area. It should be noted that each of the sub-themes can be a topic for a separate excursion. Sightseeing tour is one of the most common types of excursions in tourism.
Types of thematic tours
Themed walks explore one specific theme. There are six types of such excursions, each of which has narrower directions:
- Historical is dedicated to one or more historical events, and the story is limited to the time frame of these events. The historical and local lore direction describes the history of the area, the events taking place in the area at different periods of time, gives an idea of the formation of the object of the excursion. The archaeological direction in the excursion is a visit to ancient and medieval monuments. Military-historical - tells about military operations. Ethnographic - description of customs and traditions. The historical and biographical direction tells about a historically significant person. A separate area is visitinghistorical museums.
- Quite often, industrial types of excursions are held at school, especially in high school. The purpose of such events is to tell about the work of enterprises. This view has three directions. The historical direction tells about the history of the establishment of the enterprise, the economic one - about the specifics and organization of the economic aspects of activity, the technical one - includes a direct demonstration of working capacities.
- Natural excursion gives an idea about the biosphere of the studied area and has the following directions: biological, zoological, geological, ecological.
- Art studies are devoted to a certain type of art. The direction of such an excursion is directly related to the type of art described. It can be theatrical, musical, cinematographic direction. Also, such excursions include visiting the workshops of artists and sculptors, houses-museums of cultural figures and so on.
- The literary excursion has a biographical one - about the life and work of a writer, a historical one - about the development of a particular literary genre or about the features of literary activity at different periods of time, an artistic direction - walks in places described in literary works.
- Architectural and urban planning excursion can be aimed at describing the life and work of an architect, visiting architectural objects and architectural monuments.
Venue
The venue sharesexcursion activities into five main types. City tour can be both overview and thematic. For example, an architectural and urban planning tour, which tells about the features of the construction of buildings in a certain era and demonstrates the corresponding construction objects, is urban.
Country walks include visiting unique natural sites or park ensembles. The distance to the end point of the tour is rarely more than a hundred kilometers. There are several subtypes of such a walk:
- excursion activities are held at the end point of the trip;
- in addition to the review of the end point, the story is told throughout the entire journey;
- the tour is conducted during the trip and is accompanied by a display of objects.
The museum type of excursion is, as a rule, of an art history nature. The theme of the museum tour depends on the visited exposition. Comprehensive tours include a combination of several venues.
Duration
According to the initial division of excursion activities introduced by Raikov B. E., the duration of the excursion was divided into three periods: one day, several days, one day with an overnight stay. However, at present, such a division has lost its relevance, since instead of multi-day excursions, weekend tours are held. The tour consists of several days and includes several excursions.
Form of event
There are the following types of holdingexcursions:
- Extras. During the Soviet Union, this was the name given to processions with placards and banners. Today, these are mass trips of large groups of tourists. For example, it can be a suburban themed walk on several buses, each of which has a guide.
- Walks. As a rule, they are of a natural history nature and combine acquaintance with the object and relaxation.
- Lecture. When conducting an excursion-lecture, there is a predominance of the narrative part over the show. These lectures are on different topics. These types of excursions are most common in training.
- Concert. This is a musical tour. It includes listening to musical compositions.
- Performance. Such an excursion is based on a work of fiction.
Composition of participants
The composition and number of tourists is another indicator that classifies excursions into main types. According to the number of participants, they are divided into individual and group. Individual are held for one excursionist, group - for a group. The composition of participants may include different segments of the population and different age groups. In addition, visiting tourists or local residents can be an excursion group.
Method of travel
Excursion group can be on foot or move on any transport. The advantage of walking is the free choice of the pace necessary for a quality inspection of objects.
Transport tour gives a comprehensive overview of the objects. As a rule, a bus is chosen as a transport. The advantages of the trip also include the ability to choose the most suitable angle for showing and the ability to inspect the object without leaving the vehicle. Such positive moments are especially appreciated in the case of excursions for the elderly, preschool children and people with disabilities.
Specialized tours
In addition to the types of excursions included in the generally accepted classification, there is a separate group of specialized excursions. As a rule, they are held to educate or test the knowledge of students or employees of the company organizing such events.
Often, tour organizations run specialized courses for their potential employees. Excursions of an educational nature are one of the areas of such courses. They are held for students of excursion activities in order to visually demonstrate the techniques and techniques of walking.
A trial tour is a method of testing the qualifications of employees or assessing potential employees. It may be the final exam for students of training courses. Tourists are qualified specialists who evaluate the skills of the guide.
