How the excursion is carried out. Business plan for conducting walking tours. - How does this happen? How to prepare the excursion

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 among skyscrapers and cars ancient city? Where is the utopian house located? Who comes up with city tours and who goes on them? How to plan a route correctly and make a person listen carefully? The leading guide of the City Tour Bureau of the Museum of Moscow, Larisa Skrypnik, spoke to mos.ru about the pros and cons of being a guide, about the mysteries of Moscow and the best excursionists.

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

— The Moscow Museum, where I work, celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. And all these years, the museum staff has been studying the city, its history, monitoring all the changes that are taking place in the metropolis. Our collection contains thousands of documents, books, photographs that are still being researched. This alone already gives many reasons for a new look at even the most trivial excursions.

There is, of course, a mandatory block of excursions. Typically this is sightseeing tour in Moscow, in Red Square, in 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 quite a few of them - as experience shows, Muscovites often don’t know the city well. It seems to a person: I’m here, I’ll have time to do everything - and he passes by interesting places without paying attention to them. But when interest is shown, the person, as a rule, becomes our regular customer. That is, someone who came once begins to come constantly. It is very joyful to see how, year after year, the popularity of pedestrian and bus excursions is growing: more and more citizens want to know as much as possible about the capital.

But there is another block of routes - those that we come up with ourselves. These are always unusual walks where we show the city from a new side. They can be thematic, dedicated to certain dates or events. So, we are constantly developing new routes through unexplored Moscow. We really want to show our favorite city from different sides; I want the participants of the walks to fall in love with Moscow just like us. And such excursions are usually in great demand.

— Can you tell us more about such routes?

- Was interesting story during the celebration of the anniversary of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. We were approached with a request 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 located 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. This is a challenge in a sense, I really love such things. It was necessary to do a walking tour and tell a lot, a lot about Gogol. As a result, with great interest for myself, I discovered more than 20 places associated with Nikolai Vasilyevich on Arbat. Not in Moscow as a whole, but only on 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 take her to these places. But when the request finally appeared, it turned out that it was 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 have read an interesting book. Now there are a lot of memoirs coming out, all sorts of works by pre-revolutionary Moscow scholars, which we did not know before. You read - and suddenly you see the area completely different, not the way you imagined it, and you get the idea to take a tour of this place and show Moscow from some, perhaps unexpected side.

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

— First, the search for material begins: reading specialized literature, diaries, going to libraries and, of course, studying the very area you are going to talk about. Sometimes, when you walk the streets, enter alleys, courtyards, you discover absolutely incredible treasures that people have never seen. For example, Nikitsky Boulevard is such a front street. But one time, when I was preparing a tour there, I saw a metal gate with a door, behind which it was written that there was a shoe repair shop or some kind of hardware there. In general, the door is completely unpresentable-looking. But when I entered this gateway, I realized that this the whole city with labyrinths. Who would have thought that this could happen? People are always very interested in this. It’s 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 Moscow style, what are you showing?

— Since this is a walking tour, it takes place between Ostozhenka, Prechistenka and in the side streets. This is both Isakov Kekushevsky’s apartment building and the architect Kekushev’s own house. This is the apartment house of the peasant Loskov. We had such wonderful peasants who could invite the best architects and build houses in the northern modern style. There are really not enough of them in Moscow; this style is mainly 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 in this.

— You just need to know and understand: people cannot endlessly listen to a set of some facts, even if they are quite interesting, they still need some kind of release. But it’s important not to just giggle about something, but to have it tied to the topic. And by the way, on excursions sometimes the participants themselves help find such relaxing moments. I once had a wonderful girl about seven years old on a tour of Arbat and Arbat lanes. On Arbat, every building has a story, and you want to tell about everything. I started talking about the house with knights opposite Tetra Vakhtangov and said that, unfortunately, not all the knights had survived, and this girl told me: “But I can tell where this knight went.” I ask: where? She says: “The fact is that he fell in love with this princess,” and there is a “Princess Turandot” fountain near the Vakhtangov Theater, “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 so lovely! Now I always tell this, such a vivid perception by a child of Moscow and its history.

— How long does it take to prepare the 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 interests you. There are topics that require serious preparation, maybe even requests, meetings with some people who have information on a particular area. The residents themselves tell interesting things. It's always a lot of work.

Selecting material is one of the most exciting moments, and here it is important to control yourself. You search, read, and it’s so captivating that by three o’clock in the morning you can find yourself somewhere on the other side of Moscow. Because when you are preparing material, one fact clings to another: but the name slipped through, and why not clarify... This is very difficult, but it is 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’s always a shame to remove some information.

Then comes another very important point: you must connect all the objects... It is clear that if the excursion is thematic, for example our “Moscow Embassy”, then everything is more or less clear. And if this is a tour along the street and there are absolutely dissimilar buildings, absolutely different stories, but you have to somehow connect them with each other, it should turn out to be a story.

I had a wonderful excursion, I led it 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 will leave quietly in English in 50 minutes. And I’m leading a tour and I understand that 50 minutes have already passed, an hour has passed, and the woman is still with us. And I tell her: “Please excuse me, but it seems you need to pick up your child from kindergarten.” She says: “You understand, I can’t leave. You finish telling the story and the next thing is so catchy that we will now see further that I just can’t leave.” This was the right excursion, since it happened like this.

There are also purely technical, special aspects that also need to be taken into account: how to stand correctly so that everyone can hear you, so that you can react to the expression of your face, eyes, so that you can see tourists and at the same time do not interfere with their vision of 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 you prepare an excursion, it takes extra time. For example, I’m walking down the street and, to the surprise of passers-by, I begin to run from one place to another, cross the street, come back, in order to understand where it’s better for me to 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 are they located, is it convenient for you to cross from this side to the opposite side, so as not to return to this crossing through another crossing, to somehow go further along the route, because people are not interested in the same thing place to go back and forth. In general, this is actually a very big job.

— Let's try to name the pros and cons of your profession.

— I was asked this question on excursions... But it turns out that the disadvantages turn into advantages. Of course, this is a job that requires a lot physical activity, 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 is not of our choosing, and our Moscow weather is not pleasant, let’s say, for most of the year. Next is that you are always working, because you must be on the topic of modern Moscow, know everything new that appears, new books about Moscow, new information, new objects. There is so much material that you will never be able to 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 people are different, and you make a lot of effort to keep attention. When this works out, I feel a tremendous moral uplift because I give my energy to people, and they give theirs in return. After an excursion I always feel emotionally charged. Everything is interconnected here, and if you like it, then you enjoy it more.

Creating a new interesting excursion is not an easy task. The planned event should be divided into two equal stages - preparation and conduct of the excursion.

To develop new excursion route you need to decide on the purpose of the excursion, the type (in terms of content - sightseeing, thematic; according to the method of transportation - walking, bus) and objects of display. The text of the excursion, its duration and richness of facts will depend on this. This should not be done by one person, but by a creative group, which should include from three to seven people.

First steps to planning an excursion

When objects are selected, we begin collecting information on each of them and compile the most convenient route transitions (moving, etc.). Now, from a large amount of information on objects, you need to compose a tour text for each of them and a card of the object. Such a card is an indispensable part of a guide’s portfolio; it contains brief information about the object and possibly a photograph of it.

After excursion texts for objects have been written, it is easier to create an interesting and concise excursion text and connect the parts with competent transitions.

After preparing the materials, a methodological development of the excursion is done - this is a document describing the excursion and its main parameters. The manual includes a topic, a map of the route, its length, type of excursion, safety rules, purpose, tasks and time. It also includes a table - a plan for the excursion:

route;
display object;
stop;
time in minutes;
listing of main issues, names of subtopics;
organizational guidelines;
guidelines(logical transitions).

After this, the manual must be certified by management; it serves as confirmation of the quality of the excursion.

Tour guide's briefcase

Before conducting a tour, you need to collect a “guide briefcase”. This is the professional name for a set of visual aids to simplify the excursion. These can be reproductions of paintings, photographs of people who are related to this topic, maps depicting enterprises or military operations, geographic Maps, geological samples, product samples, tape recordings and other materials that help inform the excursion.

Material requirements

The criteria for selecting visual material are low: preservation, unusualness, expressiveness, need for display and educational value. These are the main qualities of these criteria. It is very important to have good materials on objects that have not survived to this day or have been greatly modified. This will make the material easier to understand. It is worth considering that reproductions, maps and photographs must be on a cardboard base, the image must be clear with a size of at least 18*24, preferably 24*30 cm.

Now that all the material is ready, let's figure out how to conduct a tour correctly. Typically, each guide has his own technique for conducting an excursion, based on personal experience and observations. But the methodology for conducting an excursion is a whole system of requirements and tasks, methods of telling and showing. All this is necessary to achieve maximum digestibility of the material. A well-developed methodology is a kind of list of rules for a guide when conducting a specific excursion. But it is worth paying attention to the fact that the methods of conducting the excursion should differ slightly depending on the age characteristics of the group and the interest of the excursionists.

For school-age children, it is better not to overload the text with facts; it will be more interesting for them to see visual material and hear interesting legend or history. It is also worth preparing for questions; children receive a lot of them. It is important to be able to hold the attention of schoolchildren. To do this, you need to ask questions: “Do you know?”; “Have you heard about...?”; “Do you like...?” etc. In this case, the guide begins a dialogue with the excursionists, and this way you can hold your attention for quite a long time.

Older generation tourists, as a rule, behave quietly and calmly, and it is quite difficult to understand whether they are interested in the story or not. In the event that these are not professors and scientists, it is advisable not to overload the excursion text big amount dates and numbers. Always allow time for photographing, just five to seven minutes will be enough.

Guide techniques

There are generally accepted methods for conducting excursions, they include techniques of telling and showing. Display techniques make it possible to draw the attention of tourists to the most important details, to evaluate the general appearance of the object and its combination with environment. Narrative techniques, in turn, help to recreate a more accurate picture of events in the imagination of tourists. Key words: “Imagine...”, “It’s been... a year...”, etc.

Safety regulations

But in addition to interesting material and a pleasant guide, the event must be safe.

Safety when conducting excursions, especially walking ones, is very important. Basic rules of safety and behavior on the route can be read in the methodological development of the excursion. But the guide is obliged to notify the group about safety precautions immediately before the excursion. Tell us about all the nuances of the route. The most banal phrases about not sticking your head out the window of a bus and jumping out while it’s moving must be heard. Since the guide takes responsibility for the group during the excursion, it is his task to talk about safety rules.

What should tourists be warned about?

Particular attention should be paid to road intersections and transitions (rope bridges, caves, tunnels, etc.). If the excursion is conducted outdoors, you should be warned about fire safety rules. It is also necessary to talk about the fact that you should not try mushrooms, touch various insects and animals with your hands, drink water from open reservoirs and walk barefoot.

It is worth taking care of household items local population And surrounding nature at the excursion location. In addition, persons who have undergone preliminary instruction and medical examination, as well as people who do not have health-related contraindications, should be allowed on excursions.

* The calculations use average data for Russia

49,000 ₽

Starting investments

121,500 RUR

81,000 ₽

Net profit

2 months

Payback period

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

1. PROJECT SUMMARY

This business plan discusses a project to implement walking tours in a city with a population of more than 1 million people. The project is an event in the “excursion + street performance” format. The financial resources required to start the project will amount to 49 thousand rubles. and will be used to purchase excursion equipment, create presentation materials, purchase costumes for actors and stage attributes.

The projected volume of revenue per month with one excursion per week and the participation of 15 excursionists in it will be 121.5 thousand rubles, net profit 81.5 thousand rubles. The financial plan is designed for a three-year period of activity. After this, it is planned to expand the types of excursions and update the program of events. The project will require a preparatory phase 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 maneuverable routes and provide participants with a logical and consistent visual sequence. The length of such routes usually does not exceed 6 kilometers, and the duration is no more than 3 hours.

From the point of view of organization, walking excursions require much less financial and time expenditure, since there is no need to enter into an agreement with a transport company, coordinate the travel time with the driver and adjust the excursion route to the rules traffic. At the same time creation walking route requires a more thoughtful script. Display objects should be fairly close to each other. Excursionists are required to be physically prepared, and the guide is required to be able to keep the pace and catch up on time with those lagging behind the group. Feature excursion business V largest cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg there is a high level of competition. In other million-plus cities and regional centers with a population of less than a million inhabitants, the competition is not so significant, but it is quite difficult to immediately stand out from the 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 high competition among excursion organizers. On the one hand, such an event will require a lot of time and financial costs on the organization, on the other hand, with good positioning, it will attract public attention and can become one of the landmark cultural events in the city. The project will be implemented on its own based on 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 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 30 minutes. The cost of participation will be divided for children and adults (see Table 2). The cost was determined taking into account the analysis of competitors' proposals. Thus, the cost of a regular walking tour in the regions varies from 400 to 650 rubles, the cost of bus excursions or excursions with any additional services, including a quest, coffee break, etc. ranged from 1100 to 1500 rubles. Thus, 800-950 rubles is, on the one hand, a more expensive option compared to regular excursions, but at the same time more profitable compared to similar offers.

Table 2. Description of goods and services

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

4.SALES AND MARKETING

The target audience of the project will be, on the one hand, an age audience actively interested in the history of the city (mainly women aged 35-40 years), 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 the implementation of several stages.

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

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

Main stage. Ongoing advertising activities 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 advertisements are being distributed. The following can also be used as additional channels for attracting customers:

a guide's own blog on the history of the city;

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

partnership with information tourist centers(transfer of clients for a percentage, placement of advertising or business cards).

Earn up to
200,000 rub. per month while having fun!

Trend 2020. Intellectual business in the field of entertainment. Minimum investment. No additional deductions or payments. Turnkey training.

Table 3 shows approximate expenses for advertising purposes during the main period of work. Filling groups on social networks with content and updating information on the website is planned to be organized on our 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 and performances once a week - on Saturdays or Sundays, during 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 regular actors and three people playing either episodic roles or substitutions. To get started, you will need to purchase the necessary stage and excursion equipment. Expenses for these purposes will amount to about 39.2 thousand rubles.

Table 4. List of necessary equipment and inventory

When conducting one excursion per week, taking into account the participation of 10 adult tourists with an average bill of 900 rubles, monthly revenue will be 81 thousand rubles. This plan is planned to be followed 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 an excursion route, performance scripts are created, rehearsals are organized, actors are selected, etc. Unlike many countries in the world, in Russia a license to provide excursion services is not required. To ensure that activities are carried out within the legal framework only individual entrepreneur registration is required. OKVED activity codes:

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

The processing time for registration of individual entrepreneurs will be 3 days. State duty - 800 rubles. The most appropriate 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:

Here is a list of documents required to conduct activities within the right field:

contract for services, where all excursion offers, its obligations and those points for which the company is not responsible will be indicated;

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

agreements 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 tourism business.

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

The project team

The project team will include two organizers and at the same time performers of the project in the person of a 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 interested in local history and the history of the city, has a certificate of completion of guide courses from a specialized training center, training personnel for the tourism industry. Personal qualities: sociability, competent speech, articulate voice, creativity and resourcefulness, talent as a teacher and psychologist, patience.

Director of a theater troupe. He has experience as a director in a student theater, a talent as an organizer, advertiser, and designer.

Actors. A group of eight actors (five regular actors, three substitutes), participants in major theater competitions, city performances, a student theater troupe. The actors will be paid 500 rubles per performance. Based on the experience of similar projects, it is recommended to select a reserve troupe for all roles (in case of illness of the actors, absence from rehearsals/performance for family or other reasons, etc.).

7. FINANCIAL PLAN

The financial plan takes into account all income and expenses of the project. The initial investment in the project will be 49 thousand rubles. The expenses of the main period of work will include wages for the actors - 22,500 rubles, expenses for advertising and promotion of the project. A detailed financial plan for the project, taking into account tax deductions, is given in Appendix 1.

Table 5. Investment costs of the project

	NAME	AMOUNT, rub.
Equipment and inventory
	Equipment for excursions
	Equipment for performances
Intangible assets
	Registration of individual entrepreneur
	Flyer printing
	Funds for paying actors (for the first 2 excursions)

Table 6. Main period expenses

8. EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS

Thanks to minimal investments, the project can pay for itself within the second month from the start of excursion sales. The annual turnover of the project in the first year will be 972 thousand rubles, net profit - 521.8 thousand rubles. Profitability - 53%. Annual turnover in the second year is 1,458 thousand rubles, net profit is 978.2 thousand rubles, profitability is 67%.

9. RISKS AND GUARANTEES

The project will require minimal investment in opening, there are no costs for rent and connection to any real estate and material assets (the product is intellectual and acting work), in connection with which all financial risks are minimal. Most of the possible difficulties can be associated with internal problems - errors in the organization, incorrect promotion, incorrect presentation of information by excursionists, etc. These risks are prevented, firstly, through careful preparatory work, which should include writing a high-quality script for the excursion and performance, and their test run. Secondly, a competent market analysis is important: monitoring of all current offers in the field, analysis of the pricing and advertising policies of competitors, their methods of smoothing out the seasonality factor, etc. The key factor for the main period will be work to improve the quality of services, expand the list of services, provide feedback to clients and advertise.

There are also external risk factors - competition, an unfavorable situation in the country’s economy, which affects the solvency of the population and forces them to give up leisure, etc. To minimize these factors, it is necessary to carry out high-quality promotion from the first days of the project’s existence, and in the future, to gain status and recognition of the event as a significant cultural event of the city, which is attended by representatives of middle and large companies and which is actively recommended to tourists and guests of the city.

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Photo: Official portal of the Mayor and Government of Moscow

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

— It seems that everything about Moscow has already been told, all the city labyrinths and nooks and crannies have been traversed, and suddenly a new route, a new excursion appears - 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, and 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 quite a few of them - as experience shows, Muscovites often don’t know the city well. It seems to a person: I’m here, I can do everything - and he passes by interesting places, not paying attention to them. But when interest is shown, a person, as a rule, becomes our regular client. That is, someone who came once begins to come constantly. It is very joyful to see how the popularity of walking and bus excursions is increasing year after year: more and more citizens want to learn as much as possible about the capital.

— 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 approached with a request 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 located 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. This is a challenge in a sense, I really love such things. It was necessary to do a walking tour and tell a lot, a lot about Gogol. As a result, with great interest for myself, I discovered more than 20 places associated with Nikolai Vasilyevich on Arbat. Not in Moscow as a whole, but only on 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 take her to these places. But when the request finally appeared, it turned out that this 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 have read an interesting book. Now there are a lot of memoirs coming out, all sorts of works by pre-revolutionary Moscow scholars, which we did not know before. You read - and suddenly you see the area completely different, not the way you imagined it, and you get the idea to take a tour of this place and show Moscow from some, perhaps unexpected side.

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

— First, the search for material begins: reading specialized literature, diaries, going to libraries and, of course, studying the very area you are going to talk about. Sometimes, when you walk the streets, enter alleys, courtyards, you discover absolutely incredible treasures that people have never seen. For example, Nikitsky Boulevard is such a front street. But one time, when I was preparing a tour there, I saw a metal gate with a door, behind which it was written that there was a shoe repair shop or some kind of hardware there. In general, the door is completely unpresentable-looking. But when I entered this gateway, I realized that this was a whole city with labyrinths. Who would have thought that this could happen? People are always very interested in this. It’s 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 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 in this.

— How long does it take to prepare the excursion?

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 her child from kindergarten, so in 50 minutes she would leave quietly in English. And I’m leading a tour and I understand that 50 minutes have already passed, an hour has passed, and the woman is still with us. And I tell her: “Please excuse me, but it seems you need to pick up your child from kindergarten.” She says: “You understand, I can’t leave. You finish telling the story and the next thing is so catchy that we will now see further that I just can’t leave.” This was the right excursion, since it happened like this.

— Let's try to name the pros and cons of your profession.

— I was asked this question on excursions... But it turns out that the disadvantages turn into advantages. Of course, this is a job that requires a lot of physical activity, 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.

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