| Photo: Ekaterina Bolovtsova – pexels |
With the pandemic, tourism stopped. When we Tour Guides will be able to return to the streets with travelers and present cities and attractions, we still don’t know.
If we are not working it means that many people are not traveling or visiting any attraction in their own city.
Locked up at home, we, guides and tourists, turn to the internet looking for random videos on “how to do something”, or watching live shows and series.
But over time it lost its appeal and we needed to take advantage of the internet to our advantage. If, on the one hand, the Tourist Guide needs to work, because he misses it and because of financial necessity, on the other hand, the tourist also misses (and needs) to go for walks and travel, leaving home.
Last year, some Tourist Guides started doing virtual tours of a destination or attraction. Presenting from your home over the internet to other people who watch (travel) from the comfort of their homes.
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| My first online experience |
The pandemic has not passed, the desire to travel has only increased and virtual tourism has grown. Today there are Tour Guides all over Brazil working in this modality. And I believe that this new way of practicing our profession will continue even after all this is over.
Even before the pandemic, it was already possible to take a virtual tour of some attractions. The new feature now is the live participation of the Tourist Guide. The tour is not a recording or program. You can interact with the guide by asking questions as if you were on an in-person tour.
On the scheduled day and time, the Tourism Guide will present a destination, attraction or even a theme online. In addition to using a vast amount of material, the guide enriches the experience with local information and curiosities.
With the growth of this new way of traveling, today there are websites and platforms offering various tours and online experiences in various places.
After a year of waiting for tourists and trips to return, I embraced the new way of guiding. On the internet I discovered the Bando Experiencias Guiadas platform developed by Tour Guides thinking about travelers who are homebound and guides who are out of work.
The Bando (as it is affectionately called) was created by tour guides and everyone who presents the experiences are Guides accredited by the Ministry of Tourism, valuing the profession.
In addition to providing full support to professionals who want to work in virtual tourism, they also provide support during the transmission so that your experience is the best possible.
I contacted them and they immediately responded. Through mentoring, they answered my doubts and guided me on how to make my first presentation, and today I am a guide for the Bando. Visit the website and see my experience or that of a colleague.
From Bando I started to participate in other sites. I have a page on Sympla with my virtual tours in addition to in-person tour guide services.
– Click on the Bando link and watch my virtual video of Vitória.
– Fill in the details, make the payment and follow the instructions.
– Or click on the Sympla website and choose another experience.
– Make a contribution and follow the instructions.
No. The experiences last around an hour and a half and cost from R$10.00.
>> With the virtual tour you can see places, miss one you visited and also acquire information to create your itinerary for when you can travel.
>> Virtual tourism does not only serve tourists who are isolated at home. It is also accessible to people who have never traveled or cannot travel, as it is not expensive.
>> You get to know the work of the Tour Guide and have a reference for when you can take an in-person tour.
>> And not to mention that it allows professional Tour Guides to practice their profession and earn income during this period of the pandemic.
Tour Guide: Discover Espírito Santo with a guide. Make contact with me.
Accommodation: Make your reservations on Booking.com and travel with peace of mind.
Car rental: Are you going to rent a car? Get quotes from several companies on rentcars.com.
Airline ticket: You can buy it at Passagens Promo.
