Does Tourism Have To Happen In-Person?
Hello,
As we all work through the pandemic in various ways, an interesting question has come up in the tourism industry:
Does tourism have to happen in-person?
I’m not sure about you, but my first reaction was “Yes, absolutely!”
I mean, what is the definition of ‘tour’ if not ‘a journey for pleasure in which several different places are visited.’
But when the world shut down after COVID-19, those tours weren’t possible.
What didn’t change, though, was that people all over the world still wanted to get to know new places. And the people in those places were excited and eager to share.
That kicked off a trend that had already been building with virtual tours - from free ones hosted by museums to live virtual tours led by locals.
While I’m still skeptical about live virtual tours, I am more interested in the possibilities of what’s come about recently with virtual tour guides. This is explored in detail in the Wall Street Journal’s new article TikTok’s Travel Guides: The New Way To Plan A Vacation.
In it, they profile five new types of virtual guides (and this is where it gets really interesting for agritourism):
Chicago, IL - Sherman Thomas shares videos on “the city’s African-American history, exploring topics like redlining, segregation and gang culture… [and] delves into street names, local architecture, notable figures and the history of deep-dish pizza.”
Savannah, GA - Enocha Edenfeld offers “virtual ghost tours of haunted cemeteries and homes with historical facts.”
Calgary, Canada - Sonya Dodginghorse shares videos about her “ranch’s equine therapy programs [and] glimpses of Indigenous ranch life, with footage of local rodeos, day-to-day care of the horses and scenic horseback rides.”
Bar Harbor, Maine - Jacob Knowles posts videos from a lobster fishing boat about “lobster anatomy and behavior, touting the importance of sustainable fishing practices and showing off his catches.”
Paris, France - Simon Nogueira posts videos above Paris while “free-running and leaping across rooftops.”
Why does this matter? Four of the five are now running tourism-related activities.
Sherman launched in-person tours and bus tours.
Enocha launched a walking tour company with private two-hour tours.
Sonya will soon offer overnight stays for visitors.
Simon teaches private lessons and classes.
When we think about agritourism, we recognize that agriculture comes first. Not just alphabetically, of course (touriculture doesn’t have the same ring to it), but also logically.
First comes a farmer’s expertise, her passion, her crop - then the tourists come to experience it.
We can sometimes get caught up in the idea of waiting for tourists. But it’s worth thinking about what we can do to attract them, too.
That’s what I see with all of the examples above. They were people sharing their expertise, their passion, and their “crop” (whatever that product ended up being, history, folklore, therapy, fishing knowledge, or acrobatic explorations).
That in turn led to four of the five developing touristic activities and offerings.
(A side note: the other reason I think this is very well suited to agritourism is that it doesn’t rely on live video calls, which are not suitable for rural areas where data and connection aren’t strong or consistent enough.)
So, that leads us to some ideas you can consider for your next year.
How can you lead with what you know?
How can you be a virtual guide for your agricultural product?
And how can you - or someone in your community - work to make regular, short videos about your expertise, your passion, and your crop?
There are lots of exciting ways to take this. What do you think? Are you open to being a virtual tour guide?
Warmly,
Alex and Joseph