Roadtrip – an example of how the future of tourism might look like
The main economic offering in tourism is represented by experiences that have a promise of being memorable. In the Experience Economy, storytelling is one of the key memorable ingredients of an experience. There are already some existing innovative experiences that show the power of storytelling in action (e.g. Royal Museums in Greenwich, Kidzania, The College of Wizardry to name a few). Here, guests can live in a story first-hand and influence the outcome of the narrative by becoming a co-creator in the experience.
Creating a story-based environment where it is easy to contribute to the overall narrative and reinforcing the narrative with props and actors creates a magic circle where participants take ownership and use their competencies to build something that has a higher meaning for them. Such experiences, where guests are actively co-creating the experience by using the fictional frame of the story, offer a glimpse of how the future of tourism might look like.
RoadTrip is an experience that aims to do that.
The story-based environment = living the Rock’n’Roll dream – be part of the tour of a rock band on America’s most famous highway – Route 66
Easy to contribute = everyone roleplaying a social function in the experience – guests can play either a band member (music skills required), a roadie, a groupie, a journalist or another member of the entourage. The social functions create an alibi for the guests and enable them to easily contribute to the overall narrative.
Reinforcing narrative with props and actors = the experience will have a rock band tour bus and additional cars that follow the band bus on the experience. As a rule of thumb, there is usually 1 actor for each 10 guests that helps reinforce the Rock’n’Roll dream experience. At each of the stops, some experiences that reinforce the narrative (e.g. the stage at the venues where the bands will play, banners with the band name, a grand finale with the last concert etc.) will be staged.
With the help of these elements, participants have a magic circle (the duration of the road-trip) where they can easily co-create a grander narrative based on the basic story environment provided (living the Rock’n’Roll dream on America’s most famous highway). And while this is not the secret recipe that all the tourism industry can use to make their experiences memorable, enhancing the story that makes your attraction/destination unique in any way will raise the chances that people will notice and remember your experience.
Roadtrip is a project done together by ImagineNation and Dziobak Larp Studios – two companies that focus on creating immersive live action roleplaying experiences. Here is a look at other memorable projects that Dziobak Larp Studios help come to life.
Want to learn how to create memorable experiences? Then join us at The College of Extraordinary Experiences.
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