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 activity, there are many types of excursions into which they are divided according to some characteristic features.
What is a tour
The word "excursion" came from Latin and means it is a walk or a trip. This term means an individual walk or a trip to remarkable places of interest from a scientific, cognitive or entertainment point of view. Three elements participate in the excursion: the guide, the excursionist and the object (or subject) of the excursion.
The object of the tour is an object or phenomenon of historical, cultural, aesthetic or scientific value. A visit to the 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 tourist. One or more excursionists take part in the inspection of the object, depending on the type of excursion.
The purpose for which the tour is conducted determines its direction. Often the trip is entertaining. Such trips are an integral part of tourism activities. Otherwise, the tour becomes an educational event.
An important distinguishing feature of the tour is the ability to contemplate the object and receive information about it. Without contemplation, the tour becomes a lecture, without an informative aspect, the tour will become an inspection.
Story
According to many historians, the first excursions include pilgrimage trips to holy places. Olympics in Ancient Greece are considered to be sporting excursions. But only at the beginning of the twentieth century, excursion activity became an independent direction. The development of transport routes, tourism, in many respects contributed to this. The upper classes were able to travel freely to different parts of the world, as well as send their children to study in other countries.
Along with travel, they began to conduct educational excursion activities with children. Their main goal was to introduce students to the environment, that is, they were various types of excursions into nature. At the same time, the profession of "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 an activity, they use signs identified by the excursion scientist B. E. Raikov, who is the founder of the excursion work. Excursions are divided into types and forms, depending on the following features:
- Content.
- Composition and number of excursionists.
- The place where the tour takes place.
- A way to move an excursion group.
- The duration of the event.
- The form of the tour.
Each of the above types of excursions has individual features and characteristics.
Classification Objectives
The need to classify excursion activities arose for many reasons. The main one is simplification in the preparation and development of sightseeing events. When drawing up a plan for a walk, it is important to consider that it should not only have a cognitive character, but also bring positive emotions. Therefore, for an effective tour is not enough to know the subject of the show.
The guide needs to be well versed in the place of the walk, choose the best viewpoints. The excursion should have some plot, which, telling directly about the object, will be supplemented by interesting facts and the inclusion of the objectβs connections with famous personalities or significant events.
In the case of a long walk, the guide must provide for several breaks in the story for the rest of the group. For some types of excursions (in elementary school, for people with disabilities), the features of the group should be taken into account.
Content
The content of the tour divides it into two types: overview and thematic. A sightseeing walk is a type of excursion that is multifaceted in content. Sightseeing tours are usually conducted to describe a city, region, enterprise or natural site. Such excursions have a certain structure. An overview of an object has several topics and subtopics, illuminating a large period of time during which an object exists, and associating an object with various historical events.
For example, when reviewing a city, the architectural subtopic includes a description of the features of urban development, and the natural history theme tells about the flora and fauna of the area. It should be noted that each of the subtopics may be a topic for a separate tour. A sightseeing walk is one of the most common types of excursions in tourism.
Types of thematic excursions
Themed walks reveal one specific topic. Such excursions are of six types, each of which has narrower directions:
- The historical one is dedicated to one or several 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 intervals, gives an idea of ββthe formation of the object of the tour. The archaeological direction in the tour is a visit to ancient and medieval monuments. Military historical - talks about military operations. Ethnographic - a description of customs and traditions. Historical and biographical direction tells of a historically significant personality. A separate area is visiting historical museums.
- Quite often, industrial types of excursions are conducted at the school, especially in high school. The purpose of such events is a story about the work of enterprises. This view has three directions. The historical direction tells the story of the creation of the enterprise, the economic one tells about the specifics and organization of the economic aspects of the activity, the technical one includes a direct demonstration of working capacities.
- A nature excursion gives an idea of ββthe biosphere of the study area and has the following directions: biological, zoological, geological, environmental.
- Art criticism is dedicated to a certain type of art. The direction of such an excursion is directly related to that described art form. It can be a theatrical, musical, cinematic direction. Also, such excursions include visits to the workshops of artists and sculptors, house-museums of cultural figures and so on.
- A literary excursion has a biographical one - about the life and work of a writer, a historical excursion - about the development of a particular literary genre or about the features of literary activity at different time intervals, an artistic direction - walks around the places described in literary works.
- An architectural and urban planning excursion can be aimed at describing the life and work of the architect, visiting architectural objects and architectural monuments.
Location
The venue divides excursion activities into five main types. The city tour can be both sightseeing and thematic. For example, an architectural and urban planning tour, telling about the features of building buildings in a certain era and showing the corresponding construction objects, is urban.
For country walks include visits to unique natural sites or park ensembles. The distance to the end point of the excursion is rarely more than one hundred kilometers. There are several subtypes of such a walk:
- excursion events are held at the final point of travel;
- in addition to reviewing the end point, the story is carried out along the entire route;
- the tour is conducted during the trip and is accompanied by a display of objects.
The museum view of the excursion is, as a rule, of an art history character. The theme of the museum tour depends on the visited exhibition. Comprehensive excursions include a combination of several venues.
Duration
According to the initial division of excursion activities introduced by B. Raikov, 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, as instead of multi-day excursions, weekend tours are held. The tour consists of several days and includes several excursions.
Form
The following types of excursions are available:
- The crowd. In the days of the Soviet Union, processions with posters and banners were called so. Today it is a massive trip of large groups of tourists. For example, it can be a country theme walk on several buses, each of which has a guide.
- Walks. As a rule, they are of natural nature and combine familiarity with the object and relaxation.
- Lecture. During the excursion-lecture, the predominance of the narrative part over the show is observed. Similar lectures are of various subjects. The most common are these types of excursions in training.
- Concert. This is a tour of the musical direction. It includes listening to music.
- Performance. The basis of such an excursion is a work of fiction.
List of participants
The composition and number of excursionists is another indicator that classifies excursions into the main types. By the number of participants they are divided into individual and group. Individuals 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 locals can be a tour group.
Way to travel
The excursion group can be on foot or move on any transport. The advantages of walking are the free choice of pace necessary for a quality inspection of objects.
A transport tour provides a comprehensive overview of the facilities. As a transport, as a rule, a bus is chosen. 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 transport. Such positive aspects are especially appreciated in the case of a tour for the elderly, preschool children and people with disabilities.
Specialized Excursions
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 train or test the knowledge of students or employees of the company organizing such events.
Often organizations involved in conducting excursions conduct specialized courses for their potential employees. Educational excursions are one of the directions of such courses. They are held for students of excursion activities in order to clearly demonstrate the techniques and techniques of conducting walks.
A trial tour is a method of checking the qualifications of employees or evaluating potential employees. It can be the final exam for trainees. Qualified specialists who assess the skills of the guide act as excursions.