Emelyanov B.V. Excursion

Photo: Official portal of the Mayor and the Government of Moscow

How to see among skyscrapers and cars ancient city? Where is the utopia house located? Who comes up with city tours and who goes on them? How to get the right route and make a person listen carefully? Larisa Skrypnik, the leading guide of the City Tour Bureau of the Museum of Moscow, told the site about the pros and cons of the work of a guide, about the mysteries of Moscow and the best excursionists.

- It seems that everything has already been told about Moscow, all city labyrinths and nooks have been passed, and suddenly it appears new route, new excursion - how is this possible?

- The Museum of Moscow, where I work, is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year. And all these years the museum staff have been studying the city, its history, following all the changes that take place in the metropolis. There are thousands of documents, books, photographs in our collection that are still being researched. This alone already gives many reasons for a new look even at the most trivial excursions.

There is, of course, a mandatory block of excursions. As a rule, this is a sightseeing tour of Moscow, Red Square, the historical center, which are intended specifically for the first acquaintance with the city - for those who want to learn about the city in which they live. There are many of them - as experience shows, Muscovites often know the city poorly. It seems to a person: I am here, I will have time for everything - and he passes by interesting placeswithout paying attention to them. But when interest is shown, the person usually becomes our regular customer. That is, the one who came once begins to walk constantly. It is very joyful to see how the popularity of walking and bus excursions grows from year to year: more and more citizens want to know the maximum about the capital.

But there is another block of routes - those that we come up with on our own. These are always unusual walks in which we show the city from a new perspective. They can be thematic, timed to specific dates, events. So, we constantly have new routes around unknown Moscow. We really want to show our favorite city from different sides; I would like the participants of the walks to fall in love with Moscow as much as we do. And such excursions, as a rule, are in great demand.

- Can you tell us more about such routes?

- There was an interesting story during the celebration of the anniversary of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. We were asked to come up with a walking tour of Gogol's places. Moreover, they asked to show not only the monuments to the writer, which are at a distance of 400 meters from each other, not only the temple of Simeon the Stylite, of which Gogol was a parishioner, but something else unusual. In a sense, this is a challenge, I love such things very much. I had to do a walking tour and tell a lot about Gogol. As a result, with great interest I discovered more than 20 places associated with Nikolai Vasilyevich on the Arbat. Not in Moscow as a whole, but only on the Arbat. Exclusive excursions are born, for example, from such an offer - to help someone with a topic.

Or, for example, an excursion dedicated to 1612 in Moscow. She was not particularly in demand, no one ever asked to drive to these places. But when the request did appear, it turned out that this is really very interesting excursion... Of course, excursions are also born because you yourself really like something. I love architecture and of course I came up with a walking tour of Art Nouveau. Routes may appear after you've read an interesting book. Nowadays there are a lot of memoirs, all kinds of works by pre-revolutionary Moscow scholars that we did not know before. You read - and suddenly you see the area completely different, not the way you imagined it, and you have an idea to make an excursion around this place and show Moscow from some, perhaps, unexpected side.

- How does it happen? How is the excursion prepared?

- First, the search for material begins: reading special literature, diaries, going to libraries and, of course, studying the area itself that you are going to talk about. Sometimes, when you walk the streets, walk into alleys, into courtyards, you discover absolutely incredible treasures that people have not seen. For example, Nikitsky Boulevard is such a front street. But once, when I was preparing an excursion there, I saw a metal gate with a door, behind which it was written that there was a shoe repair or some kind of hardware. In general, a completely unpresentable door. But when I entered this gateway, I realized that it was a whole city with labyrinths. Who would have thought that this could be? People are always very interested in this. As if you are immersed in the past, and you can imagine how you would feel if you lived in this house and your windows looked out onto this courtyard….

- You said that you have developed a tour of Art Nouveau, but this is not exactly the Moscow style, what are you showing?

- Since this is a walking tour, it passes between Ostozhenka, Prechistenka and in the side streets. This is Isakov's tenement house, Kekushevsky, and the own house of the architect Kekushev. This is also the apartment house of the peasant Loskov. We had such wonderful peasants who could invite the best architects and build houses in the Northern Art Nouveau style. There are really not many of them in Moscow, basically this style is widespread in St. Petersburg.

- It seems to me that the most difficult thing in your work is to make people listen, not all guides and not always succeed.

- You just need to know and understand: people cannot endlessly listen to a set of some facts, even if they are interesting enough, they still need some kind of relaxation. But it is important not just to giggle about something, but that it is tied to the topic. And by the way, on excursions sometimes the participants themselves help to find such relaxing moments. Once on a tour of the Arbat and Arbat lanes I had a wonderful girl of about seven years old. On the Arbat, every building has a history, and I want to tell you about everything. I started talking about the house with the knights opposite Tetr Vakhtangov and said that, unfortunately, not all the knights survived, and this girl tells me: "But I can tell where this knight has gone." I ask: where? She says: “The fact is that he fell in love with this princess — and the Vakhtangov Theater has a fountain“ Princess Turandot ”—he fell in love, went downstairs, bought her jewelry, but she did not accept the gift. So the knight got upset and left. " This is lovely! Now I always tell this, such a vivid perception by a child of Moscow with its history.

- How long does it take to prepare an excursion?

- It depends on the topic. There are those on which a huge amount of literature has been written, and here you just need to select what you are interested in. There are topics that require serious preparation, maybe even inquiries, meetings with some people who have information on a particular area. The residents themselves tell interesting things. This is always a lot of work.

The selection of material is one of the most exciting moments, and here it is important to control yourself. You search, read, and it is so fascinating that by three o'clock in the morning you can be somewhere in general on the other side of Moscow. Because when you are preparing material, one fact clings to another: but the last name slipped through, and not to clarify ... It is very difficult, but even more difficult to choose something when you have collected a huge amount of material and understand that it is impossible to tell everything , - it is always a pity to remove some information.

Then comes another very important point: you have to link all the objects ... It is clear, if the tour is thematic, for example, our "Moscow Ambassadorial", then everything is more or less clear. And if this is an excursion along the street and there are absolutely dissimilar buildings, completely different stories, but you have to connect them in some way to each other, you should get a story.

I had a wonderful excursion, I led her along Volkhonka, and one of the excursionists, as an intelligent person, warned me in advance that she needed to pick up the child from kindergarten, so she would leave in 50 minutes quietly in English. And I am leading the tour and I understand that 50 minutes have passed, an hour has passed, and the woman is still with us. And I say to her: "Excuse me, please, but it seems to you that the child should be taken from the kindergarten." She says: “You understand, I just can't leave. You finish telling and you are so engaging with the next that we will now see further that I just cannot leave. " That was the right excursion, since it happened so.

There are also purely technical moments, special ones, which also need to be taken into account: how to stand up correctly so that everyone can hear you, so that you can react to the expression on your face, eyes, so that you can see the tourists and at the same time do not interfere with them seeing objects; how to stand to show the object as much as possible; how to stand up so that you can talk about several objects without leaving your place. When preparing an excursion, it takes extra time. For example, I walk down the street and start, to the surprise of passers-by, run from one place to another, cross the street, come back, in order to understand where I should put the group. And here you need to show your imagination.

There are many other nuances. For example, you need to take into account the location of pedestrian crossings: where they are, is it convenient for you to cross from this side to the opposite, so that later you do not return to this crossing through another crossing, somehow go further along the route, because people are not interested in the same place to walk back and forth. In general, this is a very big job in fact.

- Let's try to name the pluses and minuses of your profession.

- I was asked this question on excursions ... But it turns out that the minuses turn into pluses. Of course, this is a job that requires a lot of physical exertion, because you need to move a lot both in the preparation process and during the excursion. And they sometimes last two or three hours, and sometimes six or seven.

The weather, which we do not choose, and our Moscow weather does not please, let's say, most of the year. Further - that you always work, because you have to be in the subject of modern Moscow, to know everything new that appears, new books about Moscow, new information, new objects. There is so much material that you can never master it completely, but you always strive for it. As a result, you constantly train your memory, your mind, you are always on the move and constantly in the fresh air.

And also people are different, and you make a lot of effort in order to keep your attention. When this happens, I feel a tremendous moral upsurge, because I give my energy to people, and they in return - theirs. After the excursion, I always feel emotionally charged. Everything is interconnected here, and if you like it, then you enjoy it more.

The city excursion bureau has developed more than 80 topics dedicated to the history and modernity of Moscow and its famous citizens.

* Calculations use average data for Russia

49 000 ₽

Initial attachments

121 500 ₽

81 000 ₽

Net profit

2 months

Payback period

City walking tours are leisure activities that allow you to delve deeper into the history of the streets. In the business plan, we will consider excursions with elements of the performance, which can bring from 80 thousand rubles.

1. SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT

This business plan deals with a project to implement walking tours in a city with a population of over 1 million people. The project is the organization of events in the format "excursion + street performance". The funds required to start the project will amount to 49 thousand rubles. and will be used for the purchase of excursion equipment, the creation of presentation materials, the purchase of costumes for actors and stage attributes.

The projected amount of revenue per month for one excursion per week and the participation of 15 excursionists in it will amount to 121.5 thousand rubles, net profit 81.5 thousand rubles. The financial plan is designed for a three-year period of activity. After that, it is planned to expand the types of excursions and update the program of events. The project will require a preparatory stage for a period of 3 months, necessary for writing a script, conducting test excursions and rehearsals, as well as creating advertising products and pre-filling social networks.

Table 1. Key project indicators

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY AND COMPANY

City walking tours are an increasingly popular type of excursion that allows participants to delve deeper into the history of the streets, explore objects and imagine themselves as participants in past events. Unlike bus tours, they allow for more flexible routes and provide participants with a logical and coherent vision. The length of such routes usually does not exceed 6 kilometers, while the duration is no more than 3 hours.

From the point of view of organization, walking excursions require much less financial and time costs, since there is no need to conclude an agreement with a transport company, coordinate the travel time with the driver and adjust the route of the excursion to the traffic rules. At the same time creating walking route requires a more thoughtful scenario. Display objects should be fairly close to each other. Physical readiness is required from sightseers, and from a guide - the ability to keep the pace and promptly drive those who lag behind the group. A feature of the excursion business in largest citiessuch as Moscow and St. Petersburg is a high level of competition. In other cities with a population of one million and regional centers with a population of less than a million inhabitants, the competition is not so significant, but it is rather difficult to immediately stand out against the background of existing proposals.

This project proposes the organization of events, the format of which will combine an excursion with a thematic performance on the history of the city. The choice of this format was due to the high competition among the organizers of excursions. On the one hand, such an event will require a lot of time and financial expenses for the organization, on the other hand, if it is well positioned, it will attract public attention and can become one of the most significant cultural events in the city. The project will be implemented on its own on the basis of the organizer's knowledge of the history of the city and interest in local history, the presence of some skills in this area, a certificate of completion of courses for tour guides, as well as personal connections with creative personalities of the city, who will be involved in the performance in as partners.

3. DESCRIPTION OF GOODS AND SERVICES

At the initial stage, two excursion scenarios will be developed, each of which will include a short 30-minute street performance on the theme of the excursion. The duration of one of the events will be 3 hours, the other 2 hours and 30 minutes. Participation fees will be shared for children and adults (see Table 2). The cost was determined taking into account the analysis of competitors' proposals. So, the cost of a regular walking tour in the regions varies from 400 to 650 rubles, the cost of bus tours or excursions with any additional services, including a quest, coffee break, etc., ranged from 1100 to 1500 rubles. Thus, 800-950 rubles is, with one more expensive option compared to regular excursions, but at the same time more profitable against the background of similar offers.

Table 2. Description of goods and services

We also note that at the start of the project, it is planned to hold two or three free excursions to draw attention to the project, when the tourists themselves determine the level of remuneration for the guide. In addition, excursionists will have access to audio and photo materials offered by the guide during the excursion, incentive prizes for activity during the excursion (badges, souvenirs, key rings, etc.).

4.SALES AND MARKETING

The target audience of the project will be, on the one hand, the age audience that is actively interested in the history of the city (mainly women aged 35-40), on the other hand, creative youth from 18 to 30 years old, as well as tourists and guests of the city. The process of organizing sales and advertising will require several stages.

Preparatory stage. At this stage, two months before the start of sales, pages are created in social networks Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki and Instagram, which are planned to be used as generators of the main stream during the main period of work. Communities are filled with thematic content on the history of the city, a preliminary recruitment of the target audience is made, advertising messages are published about a set of trial free excursions. A one-page website is being created with basic information about the cost, time of excursions, itinerary and contacts for an appointment. Advertising templates are created and advertisements are printed.

First stage. Two or three free excursions are held, during which photography is taken, feedback from participants is collected, and gaps in the organization that have arisen along the way are eliminated. Whenever possible, the attention of the Internet media and television is attracted. Further, advertising posts are published in popular groups of the city in social networks. There is an active distribution of advertisements in places visited by tourists.

The main stage. Current advertising activity using all available channels to reach the target audience. At the same time, contacts are being established with the heads of museums, cultural and entertainment institutions, anti-cafes, who can place advertisements on their own sites, and ads are being distributed. The following can also be used as additional channels of customer inflow:

own blog of the city history guide;

partnerships with travel companies with the transfer of clients for a percentage;

partnership with information tourist centers (transferring clients for a percentage, placing advertisements or business cards).

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Table 3 shows the approximate expenses for advertising purposes in the main period of work. Filling content groups in social networks and updating information on the site is planned to be organized on its own. Applications for participation in the excursion will be accepted by telephone, payment will be collected by the organizer before the start of the event. In the future, it is planned to use special services (timepad and others).

5. PRODUCTION PLAN

At the initial stage, it is planned to organize excursions-performances with a frequency of once a week - on Saturdays or Sundays, in the daytime. To create performances, you will need to hire actors from among the volunteers of the acting circle at one of the city's universities. The cast will include five permanent actors and three people who play either cameo roles or are called on to replace. To start activities, you will need to purchase the necessary stage and excursion equipment. The expenses for these purposes will amount to about 39.2 thousand rubles.

Table 4. List of required equipment and inventory

When conducting one excursion per week, taking into account the participation of 10 adult excursionists with an average check of 900 rubles, the monthly revenue will be 81 thousand rubles. This plan is planned to be adhered to during the first year of operation. The plan for the second year of operation will be 15 participants per excursion, i.e. 121.5 thousand rubles per month In the future, with an increase in the number of participants and the organization of two excursions per week, the planned revenue can be increased by one and a half to two times.

6. ORGANIZATIONAL PLAN

The project will require a preparatory period of 3 months, during which the route of the excursion, the script of the performances, rehearsals are organized, the selection of actors, etc. Unlike many countries in the world, Russia does not require a license to provide excursion services. In order for the activity to be carried out within the framework of the legal field, only registration of an individual entrepreneur is required. Activity codes according to OKVED:

79.90.2 Activities for the provision of excursion tourism services
79.90.22 Activities of independent guides and guides in the provision of excursion tourist services.

The deadline for processing documents for registration of an individual entrepreneur will be 3 days. The state duty is 800 rubles. The most expedient taxation system for this type of business is a simplified one, where the object of taxation is income of 6%.

Documents for business on walking tours:

We will also give a list of documents required to conduct activities within the legal field:

contract for serviceswhere all offers of excursions will be indicated, their obligations and those moments for which the company is not responsible;

job description for employees... It describes in detail the job responsibilities for each position and an action plan in the event of an emergency;

contracts with employees... Not necessarily according to the Labor Code, but the contractual basis must be fixed;

for employees (preferably) - a document that confirms the status of a teacher of history / culture / philology, etc. or the right to engage in tourist business.

Additionally, it is necessary to draw up a memo for clients, rules safe behavior along the route and a list of possible sources of hazards that may be encountered. Also, in some cases, the guides require accreditation. For example, to conduct excursions, foreigners need a special permit from the state sample.

The project team

The project team will include two organizers and simultaneously executors of the project in the person of the guide and the head of the theater troupe, as well as the actors themselves.

Guide. This is a person with a historical or philological education, who knows english language, who is fond of local history and the history of the city, has a certificate of completion of the course guide from a specialized training center that trains personnel for the tourism industry. Personal qualities: communication skills, competent speech, well-trained voice, creativity and resourcefulness, talent of a teacher and psychologist, patience.

Head of the theater troupe. She has experience as a director in a student theater, a talent for organizer, advertiser, designer.

Actors. A group of actors of eight people (five regular actors, three on the substitution), participants in major theatrical competitions, city performances, a troupe at the student theater. The wages of the actors will be 500 rubles per performance. Based on the experience of such projects, it is recommended to select a replacement troupe for all roles (in case of illness of the actors, failure to appear at rehearsals / performances for family or other reasons, etc.).

7. FINANCIAL PLAN

The financial plan takes into account all the income and expenses of the project. Initial investments in the project will amount to 49 thousand rubles. The expenses of the main period of work will include the wages of the actors - 22,500 rubles, the cost of advertising and promoting the project. A detailed financial plan of the project including tax deductions is given in Appendix 1.

Table 5. Investment costs of the project

	NAME	AMOUNT, rub.
Equipment and inventory
	Equipment for excursions
	Inventory for performances
Intangible assets
	IP registration
	Printing leaflets
	Funds to pay actors (for the first 2 excursions)

Table 6. Costs of the main period

8. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Thanks to the minimum investment, the project is able to pay off in the second month after the start of sales of excursions. The annual turnover of the project in the first year will amount to 972 thousand rubles, net profit - 521.8 thousand rubles. The profitability is 53%. The annual turnover in the second year is 1,458 thousand rubles, the net profit is 978.2 thousand rubles, the profitability is 67%.

9. RISKS AND WARRANTIES

The project will require minimal investment in opening, there are no rent costs and no connection to any real estate and material values \u200b\u200b(the product is intellectual and acting work), and therefore all financial risks are minimal. Most of the possible difficulties can be associated with internal problems - mistakes in the organization, incorrect promotion, incorrect presentation of information by excursionists, etc. These risks are prevented, firstly, through thorough preparatory work, which should include writing a high-quality scenario of the excursion and the performance, and testing them. Secondly, a competent analysis of the market is important: monitoring of all existing offers in the field, analysis of the price and advertising policies of competitors, their methods of smoothing out the seasonality factor, and so on. The key factor for the main period will be work on improving the quality of services, expanding the list of services, providing customer feedback and advertising.

There are also external risk factors - competition, an unfavorable situation in the country's economy, affecting the population's ability to pay and forcing them to give up leisure, and so on. To minimize these factors, high-quality promotion is necessary from the first days of the project's existence, and in the long term - the acquisition of status and recognition of the event as a significant cultural event in the city, which is attended by representatives of medium and large companies and which is actively advised to tourists and guests of the city.

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I'm not a big fan of excursions, I like to read more about interesting places myself, look for them in an unfamiliar country, and also consult with the locals. But in order to have time to get acquainted with a large number of unique for a particular country or city unique placeswill have to go on a tour. If you yourself decide to become a tour guide or help someone you know, I think it will be a great experience.

Ways to write excursions

Before you start writing an excursion, you should know that this is a very laborious and painstaking process, if difficulties do not frighten you, and you also have a large store of knowledge, then you will definitely succeed. To begin with, I note knowledge in what areas must have:

cultural studies;
history;
psychology;
rhetoric;
making plans.

So, the range of areas and skills is quite wide, so writing excursions is a very difficult, but important work for tourists. Excursions help guests of countries and cities to get acquainted with the culture local residents, learn the history of the appearance of certain places, as well as learn the signs and features of countries. At the same time, many excursions are boring enough and may not interest tourists for a long time. Therefore, for professionals, the ability to create an atmosphere of comfort and interestso that the excursion will be remembered for many years.

route development;
determination of the time for each place of the route;
accounting for bus traffic patterns, if necessary;
writing the text of the excursion;
accounting for all historical facts;
preservation of links to sources (for curious tourists);
matching the text of the excursion and the route.

When writing text, try use more logical connectivesso that the facts are not "taken" out of context, and a logical sequence is preserved. Don't use complicated language, the text should be clear to every tourist.

Do not write "dry" texts, make the excursion bright and memorable. Tourists will not remember many dates, surnames and other historical formulations, fill the test with "pungency" and "piquancy" to attract listeners.

State cultural institution

4.organization of inspection

5.presence of a route

TO peculiarities Museum excursions should be attributed to the great mobility and frequent change of themes and routes due to the constant development of the exposition (introduction of new themes, exhibits, partial re-expositions, etc.). The museum tour is limited to the space of the exhibition space. During the excursion, the guide cannot use pauses; his opportunities for relaxation, preparation of the group for the perception of new material are limited. Often the exhibits presented to the tourists in variety and variety scatter the attention of the group, and the guide has to put a lot of skill and effort to organize and direct the audience's attention to the desired exhibit.

All of the above should be taken into account when preparing and conducting a tour of the museum.

Depending on the breadth of the topic, the depth of its disclosure, excursions are divided into overview and thematic. Also in some cases there are cyclic excursions.

The most common type of excursion is sightseeing tour.

Its purpose is to give the visitor a general idea of \u200b\u200bthe museum, its collections, and the exposition as a whole.

Thematic excursionIs a guided tour of one specific topic. She sets the task of full and deep disclosure of the topic using the maximum of the material related to it, presented in the exhibition.

Thematic tours are not available in all non-state museums. Their presence depends on the profile of the museum, the nature of its main themes, exhibition space, the number of sections and topics, and most importantly, on the variety and richness of museum material.

Cycle excursionsfor non-state museums, this is a rare phenomenon, since they require the unification of excursions by a single topic, work with the same group of visitors in a certain sequence for a certain time.

II. Preparation of a museum excursion

1. The beginning of work on a new excursion is determination of the topic, purpose, range of issues that need to be covered.

All these components of the initial stage of work depend, first of all, on the profile of the museum, the collections that are on display, as well as the demand of visitors.

IV. Excursion methodology

The main methods and techniques for conducting an excursion are outlined in the process of developing its content. However, they receive concrete forms and a complete character only after special training at the exposition, in conditions as close as possible to the excursion. The guide must, in practice, choose the most successful methodological techniques for the given exposition.

There are the following general techniques excursion:

2.story

In practice, they all act in interconnection, ultimately forming a single excursion method. Its main requirement is an organic connection between the show and the story, but, as a rule, during the tour, the show precedes the story. An exhibit display is not a simple demonstration of an item. Each material presented in the exhibition carries certain information and plays a certain role. The task of the guide is to convey this to the sightseers.

When conducting a specific excursion, the methods of display and storytelling are implemented through a number of techniques, such as:

1.verbal or mental reconstruction (recreation of an event based on the materials presented in the exhibition)

2.comparison

3.citation of the exhibited documents (read extracts must be skillfully combined with the display of the exhibit itself, help to reveal the topic)

Conversation is an integral part of any excursion. First of all, these are the introductory and final parts of the excursion, which were discussed above. Separate elements of the conversation are introduced into the main part of the excursion, having thought over the questions for the tourists in advance.

In addition to the demonstration, story and conversation, which form the basis of the excursion methodology, in the museum excursion, additional techniques are often used: listening to sound recordings of the memories of the participants in the events, which are discussed in the excursion, watching videos, filmstrips, etc. It should be noted that such methods should be followed only if this material is bright, emotional, saturated with information. The duration of such "inserts" should not exceed 4-5 minutes. Otherwise, the attention of tourists will be scattered, interest in continuing the excursion will decrease.

For a more complete disclosure of the topic with a small number of exhibits, you can resort to using additional, auxiliary material that is not included in the exhibition: photographs, reproductions, copies, diagrams, maps, drawings, etc. (the so-called "guide's portfolio").

V. Some rules of the excursion

The success of the excursion depends on many factors. A guide is required to:

Knowledge of the material

Correct speech

Impeccable look

Ability to establish contact with the group, etc.

During the excursion, the guide should arrange the group in such a way that the excursionists, without exception, could see the exposition material with which they are currently working. The guide's place is between the group (1.5 m from it) and the stand. When showing with a pointer this or that material (unless a document is read out or certain features of the exhibit are indicated), the guide should address the group and observe its reaction. The indifference of the guide to the behavior of the audience, as well as the manifestation of a bad mood by him, is not acceptable. The guide is a kind of actor. And on how he prepares his role and plays it in public, the success of all the work on preparing the excursion and conducting it for a particular excursion group largely depends.

Vi. Improving the excursion

Before going out with a prepared excursion to the group, the guide must present it to a more experienced and knowledgeable employee for listening, and then the excursion is officially accepted by a commission, which may include representatives of the museum administration, staff members, members of the Museum Council.

But even after the commission accepts the excursion, the work on it is not considered complete.

It is necessary to continue studying the chosen topic - to get acquainted with new publications, clarify information about the exhibits, listen to excursions by other guides, analyze the reaction of visitors.

This will provide an opportunity to constantly improve the excursion, make it more relevant, attractive for sightseers, and, consequently, increase interest in the museum as a whole.

The mos.ru portal decided to figure out where the routes come from and what makes people go on excursions around the city. How to see the ancient city among skyscrapers and cars? Where is the utopia house located? Who comes up with city tours and who goes on them? How to get the right route and make a person listen carefully? Larisa Skrypnik, a leading guide of the City Tour Bureau of the Museum of Moscow, spoke to mos.ru about the pros and cons of working as a guide, about the mysteries of Moscow and the best excursionists.

- It seems that everything has already been told about Moscow, all city labyrinths and nooks have been passed, and suddenly a new route appears, a new excursion - how is this possible?

There is, of course, a mandatory block of excursions. As a rule, this is a sightseeing tour of Moscow, Red Square, the historical center, which are intended specifically for the first acquaintance with the city - for those who want to learn about the city in which they live. There are many of them - as experience shows, Muscovites often know the city poorly. It seems to a person: I am here, I will have time for everything - and he passes by interesting places, not paying attention to them. But when interest is shown, the person usually becomes our regular customer. That is, the one who came once begins to walk constantly. It is very joyful to see how the popularity of walking and bus excursions is growing from year to year: more and more citizens want to know the maximum about the capital.

- Can you tell us more about such routes?

Or, for example, an excursion dedicated to 1612 in Moscow. She was not particularly in demand, no one ever asked to drive to these places. But when the request did appear, it turned out that it was indeed a very interesting excursion. Of course, excursions are also born because you yourself really like something. I love architecture and of course I came up with a walking tour of Art Nouveau. Routes may appear after you've read an interesting book. Nowadays there are a lot of memoirs, all kinds of works by pre-revolutionary Moscow scholars that we did not know before. You read - and suddenly you see the area completely different, not the way you imagined it, and you have an idea to make an excursion around this place and show Moscow from some, perhaps, unexpected side.

- How does it happen? How is the excursion prepared?

- You said that you have developed a guided tour of Art Nouveau, but this is not exactly the Moscow style, what are you showing?

- It seems to me that the most difficult thing in your work is to make people listen, not all guides and not always succeed.

- How long does it take to prepare an excursion?

- Let's try to name the pluses and minuses of your profession.

The weather that we do not choose, and our Moscow weather does not please, let's say, most of the year. Further - that you always work, because you have to be in the subject of modern Moscow, to know everything new that appears, new books about Moscow, new information, new objects. There is so much material that you can never master it completely, but you always strive for it. As a result, you constantly train your memory, your mind, you are always on the move and constantly in the fresh air.