Peristiwa yang dilihat, dirasakan, dan dialami secara langsung pasti akan lebih diingat dan sulit dilupakan. Inilah yang ditawarkan konsep experiential learning untuk kegiatan perjalanan insentif.
Istilah experiential tourism bisa jadi masih terdengar asing di telinga. Padahal menurut laporan Global Growth Agent pada tahun 2017, sekitar 60 persen wisatawan global ingin menikmati perjalanan wisata yang lebih menghargai pengalaman ketimbang sekadar datang dan melihat.
Wisatawan ingin perjalanan yang lebih baik di mana terbangun pengalaman secara personal dengan lokasi, budaya, dan orang-orang yang ditemui di destinasi. Wisatawan, menginginkan pengalaman wisata yang lebih baik, personal, dan emosional.
Experiential tourism merupakan turunan dari experiential learning. Lewat experiential tourism, wisatawan diajak mengalami pengalaman lebih dari sekadar berwisata, namun bisa menghayati pengalaman dari perjalanan wisatanya.
Mudahnya, experiential tourism bisa diterapkan melalui wisata budaya, wisata petualangan, studi wisata, wisata desa, wisata minat khusus, juga perjalanan insentif.
Experiential tourism juga diyakini minim risiko penularan COVID-19. Alasannya, pertama, biasanya dalam experiential tourism jumlah wisatawan dibatasi, hanya beberapa orang dalam satu kelompok wisata. Ini tentu memudahkan kontrol terhadap status kesehatan, sekaligus meminimalisir risiko penularan.
Kedua, experiential tourism merupakan program pembelajaran dan pengembangan diri. Biasanya rangkaian program sudah ditujukan dari sebelum keberangkatan sampai peserta kembali pulang. Lagi-lagi, ini bisa menjadi kontrol atas risiko penularan COVID-19.
Ketiga, fasilitator dalam experiential learning adalah tokoh utama. Biasanya fasilitator ada tidak sekadar sebagai pemandu wisata, tapi juga mengawal proses penghayatan peserta pada pengalaman yang didapatkan selama kegiatan. Dekat dengan peserta ini pula, membuat fasilitator bisa mengawasi peserta dari risiko penularan.
Meskipun dalam kegiatannya, experiential tourism tidak melibatkan jumlah wisatawan yang besar, namun biasanya dampak ekonomi lebih masif, karena wisatawan cenderung tinggal lebih lama di suatu tempat dan tentu saja menghabiskan uang lebih banyak.
English
Experiential Tourism for Incentive Trips
Events that are seen, felt, and experienced first hand will definitely be more memorable and difficult to forget. This is what the experiential learning concept offers for incentive travel activities.
The term experiential tourism probably still feels unfamiliar. Though in fact, according to Global Growth Agent’s report in 2017, around 60 percent of global tourists want to enjoy a trip that values the experience rather than mere sightseeing.
Tourists desire a better trip in which they can build personal experiences with the location, culture, and people that they met at the destination. Travellers want better, more personal, and emotionally connected travel experiences.
Experiential tourism is a derivative of experiential learning. Through experiential tourism, tourists are invited to experience more than just traveling, but also living through the experience of the whole tour.
Simply put, experiential tourism can be applied through cultural tourism, adventure tourism, study tours, village tours, special interest tourism, and also incentive trips.
Experiential tourism is also believed to have minimal COVID-19 transmission risks. The reason being, first, experiential tourism usually limits the amount of tourists by only allowing several people in a tour group. This certainly makes it easier to control participants’ health status while also minimizing the risk of transmission.
Next, experiential tourism is a learning and self-development program. Usually, the program is already set from pre-departure until the return home. Once again, this gives more control over COVID-19 transmission risks.
Lastly, the facilitator in experiential learning is the main character. The facilitator not only acts as a tour guide, but also oversees the participants in understanding the experience gained from various activities. Being close to the participants also allows facilitators to monitor COVID-19 risks.
Even though experiential tourism does not involve a big group of people in its activities, usually the economic impact is massive due to the fact that tourists tend to stay longer in a place and of course spending more money as well.
