Embracing Immersive Tourism
There’s been a boom in tourism lately. Many folks are looking to get up, get out, and make up for lost time following the pandemic. What about your city? Is it capitalizing on this moment?
People are traveling more, but they're spending more as well—over $1.37T, in fact. Old tourism is out. Today’s travelers aren’t simply looking to see the sights, they’re out for experiences. They're looking for something deeper, more sensational, and more adventurous that aligns with their passions.
Enter: immersive tourism.
What Is “Old” Tourism?
In this case, "old" doesn’t mean old. When we say "old" tourism, we're referring to the show-and-tell type of experience your great-grandparents enjoyed.
Maybe we do mean old. Just a little.
Smyth’s as Show-and-Tell Tourism
Go with us on a journey...
You’re on a big trip to the Northeast with someone you love. (If you don't love anyone, imagine you've brought your dog along.) You’re a fan of craft beer (not in an annoying way, but enough to answer some pretty niche trivia questions). As luck would have it, you’re about twenty minutes from one of America’s oldest, family-operated breweries: Ye Olde Smyth Brewery.
You and the love of your life arrive at an old building. Like, was-not-built-with-electricity-in-mind old. There’s a twenty-something-year-old in a vintage Nirvana tee working the front counter. No, he doesn’t know it’s a band. Is he related to the Smyth family? Not even a little bit. It's summer, and he's working part-time as a tour guide.
Over the next half-hour, you get to see a couple of photographs of the original family, catch a glimpse of the framed original recipe, tour the vat room, sip a sample of the brew, and the brew master winks at your dog (or the love of your life—we don't know who you're with). You have some questions, but Not-A-Nirvana-Fan knows little about beer. He’s barely old enough to drink. He points you to the gift shop and mumbles, "Have a great day."
Show-and-tell tourism. You were shown. You were told. And maybe you buy a bumper sticker. Yay.
Why Do Businesses Opt for Show-and-Tell?
Show-and-tell tourism is easy to manage. In our example, the Smyth family is running a business. They're brewers first and foremost. Alcohol distributors and local bars are their customers. Tourists aren't their customer base. The most they can do are those free, quick daily tours.
Making Tourism Immersive
Ye Olde Smyth Brewery as an immersive tour gets a lot more dynamic. Immersive tourism starts by identifying the passion, in this case: craft beer. It's as much about storytelling as it is about enlightening the senses and creating memories that last a lifetime.
Let’s imagine what a day at Smyth’s looks like as an immersive experience.
Smyth’s as an Immersive Tourism Destination
You. Your love (or dog). Old building. Ready?
No more free daily tours. Ye Olde Smyth Brewery offers once-a-week fan experiences for $40. The tour must be booked in advance, so when you arrive you’ll find yourself in the company of like-minded craft beer fans, donning some pretty sweet brewery aprons. We lose Not-A-Nirvana-Fan and get a young actor in full colonial garb as the brewery founder, Phineas Smyth.
Phineas explains his family’s journey to America, in which all he has is a dream and an exceptional beer recipe from the old country. There are interactive stops throughout the brewery where tourists are shown the difference between fresh and stale hops. Along the way, the group can earn brew master badges, with the promise of a prize to whoever ends the tour with the most. Phineas personally introduces every member of the tour to his “great-great-great grandson” Phineas VI, who is now the brew master.
In the end, you're ushered into the Ye Olde Smyth Brewery pub, where you and your fellow tourists sample local charcuterie while Phineas shares which meats and cheeses pair best with their latest brews. It's a perfect time to take pictures with Phineas and your new brew buds. Also, that apron filled with Brew Master badges is yours to keep. A bit more interesting than a tee-shirt, which is still available at the gift shop, of course.
The shift from old tourism to immersive has already started happening across the country. Cities, big and small, are seeing huge gain. For example, Augusta, Georgia, recently enjoyed record tourism revenue by transforming existing tourist attractions into more immersive experiences.
What can your city do?
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