INTERPRETATION IN

TOURISM

Prof Mila González-Touris
Actualizado Prof. Marisela Ascanio
Sep 2019
Universidad Metropolitana
Facultad de Ciencias y Artes
Departamento de Lingüística
Introducción al Turismo (en inglés)
Unidad 5: El discurso Turístico
Fundamentos de Interpretación
Turística
 What is tourism interpretation?
Interpretation is a form of communication used to
translate technical language or facts into ideas that are
easy to understand, to be entertaining and thought-
provoking for a touristic audience.

 Tour guides use oral tourism interpretation to to lead

visitors to actively construct their own experience
through personal interaction with the sites.
 Tourism written publicity also uses interpretation to
encourage potential tourist to travel to a specific site,
 Interpretation differs from formal
instruction
FORMAL INSTRUCTION INTERPRETATION
CAPTIVE AUDIENCE NON-CAPTIVE AUDIENCE
(TOUR GUIDING IN OPEN SPACES, PUBLIC
(CLASSROOMS, SEMINARS, COURSES, ETC)
PLACES, MONUMENTS, ETC)
 Voluntary audience  Involuntary audience (or
voluntary but free to leave)
 Time commitment
 No time commitment
 External rewards *
 No external reward
 Must pay attention
 Doesn’t have to pay
 Accept academic
attention
approach
 Expect informal
 Makes effort to pay
atmosphere
attention
 *to have grades, diplomas, money, success, etc)  Will swift attention if
bored
 Interpretation key words
 Communication
 Interaction

 Provocation

 Memorable
 Pleasurable
INFORMATION
 Relevant
 Organized

TO CREATE A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE.

 4 qualities of interpretation
It has a theme


 It’s organized

 It’s relevant

 It’s enjoyable

Remember tourism interpretation is not to

describe.
 A theme is not a topic!
 Example
 Topic: Soil erosion, Poisoning frogs, Conservation….
 Themes: Soil erosion threatens agriculture, 3 kinds of frogs live in this forest knowing
which is which can save your life; our children need to learn how to take care of natural
resources.
Techniques for Tourism Interpretation
 Use of story- telling
 Use of anecdotes or personalization
 Date association
 Use of voice tone as a tool
 Use of silence
 Asking questions
 Drama or acting
 Bonding
 Encourage participation through self-reference
tools… (Have you ever….)
 Techniques
 Use of story-telling it could be stories of the local communities
and their traditions, stories about other travelers or the guide
himself, memorable events of the people of the place.
 Use of anecdotes or personalization makes the experience more
“believable” increases empathy.
 Date association: mention important historical dates o dates
related to a turning social or economic point. Or emphasis in the
years (e.g. “before you were born…”)
 Use of voice tone as a tool: making your voice more expressive on
some points, so it won’t feel boring for the audience to hear the
same tone (monotone)
 Use of silence: make a silence between two ideas or after a
question, or to make emphasis on what has been said or
expectation on what comes next
 Techniques
 Asking questions: encourage the audience to participate or to
think of possible answers
 Drama or acting: for example, to recreate a historical scene on the
site
 Mysterious or strange facts: mentioning some facts that can
surprise the audience
 Bonding: people feel they are part of a similar story and this can
trigger emotions
 Encourage participation through self-reference tools… (Have
you ever….)
 Use of humor can be a powerful tool to get attention and release
tension but do it respectfully. Beware with making comparison
with the country of origin of the visitors because this can be
sensible issue. Used wisely humor can help make connections.
 Interpretation
DO`S DON`TS
 Allow a proper introduction of  Don`t play you know it all
yourself and the site
 Relate interpretation to what is
 Don`t overload people
being described only with information
 Know your facts
 Avoid misinformation
 Stick to the theme  Don’t just name things
 Provoke the audience  Don’t disrespect your
 Be a good host audience
 Remain as the leader but using  Don’t be disorganized
good manners
 Make people care about the
place
 Close with a proper conclusion
or Wrap-up.
 Sources and links to videos used for this
presentation
  Sources of informatuion: Free nomads and
blog.meeetnetwork.org

 https://es.slideshare.net/hillarypjenkins/tour-guiding
-interpretation
 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y08-gZKcZ5s&in
dex=1&list=PLVW4ACdgiZ5XNfX-lyc0gF1SavBW0CI8l
 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRz-Dy_jjTk

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nyqAgip434