The audio drama phenomenon which began in 1920’s America continues today in countries such as Germany and Japan, with millions of audio dramas sold annually on cassettes, CDs and DVDs. The continued success of the audio drama and is directly linked to a writer’s ability to create personal and creative interactions with the listener. Great audio drama, just like a great book, creates a unique and personal experience in our mind’s eye, allowing each of us to visualize characters, settings, places, and events, pictures formed by our imaginations that are ours and ours alone. This kind of experience offers a personal intimacy, and offers listeners the opportunity to be transported to the “theatre of the mind”, experiencing dialogue, sound effects, and music while in the context of a physical environment.
Like audio drama, audio tours present an opportunity to uncover the great untold stories of people, places and events that have shaped the uniqueness of a destination and the character and culture of its people, enhancing our own understanding of human society and opening doorways into how the past has shaped the present.
This has relevance for emerging trends in tourism, as leading destination marketing organizations and tourism businesses now focus their efforts on exceeding the expectations of travelers by improving every aspect of the visitor “experience”. More marketers are asking ”What is the experience that visitors take away?”, but leaders in the tourism and hospitality sectors are making fundamental changes in marketing by recognizing that innovative changes are needed to address “experience” designed product offerings that create fresh connections between consumers and brands.
Just like great audio drama, audio tours capitalize on the opportunity to significantly enhance the visitor experience, catering to the needs of many travelers who seek more value for their money and a learning component to their travel. By uncovering a destination’s great stories, people, places and events, tours become the impetus for sharing the [venue's] brand experience, creating and driving consumer word of mouth, one of the most powerful mediums of marketing around.
