Advertising Campaign of the Sector of Tourism and Special Programs

In February and March 2005, the Sector of Tourism and Special Programs organized a presentation of new Hermitage facilities to representatives of tourist agencies: the Museum of the Guard Regiments in the General Staff Building; the Restoration and Storage Center in Staraya Derevnya; and the Museum of Heraldry and Museum of Awards in the Konstantinovsky Palace.

The objective of the advertising campaign involving visits and inspections of the museum’s new exhibition sites was to line up promising new avenues for creating an original museum tourist product. The museum’s scholarly staff prepared extensive tours for the participants to ongoing exhibitions at the Museum of the Guards in the General Staff; the Restoration and Storage Center in Staraya Derevnya; and the Museum of Heraldry and Museum of Awards in the Konstantinovsky Palace. In addition, during the course of the visit to the Restoration and Storage Center in Staraya Derevnya, the high technical level of service was demonstrated. A total of 51 tourist agencies took part in the promotional activities.

In order to determine what results were produced by the promotional campaign and also the possibilities for mutual cooperation, at the end of the program the participants were questioned about their impressions.. The findings will be used to inform further work on including these facilities in existing packages of services and also to create a new tourist product.

In particular, 58% of the respondents named the Staraya Derevnya facility as the one which generated the greatest interest from the point of view of its possible offer on the tourist market.

The representatives of tourist organizations showed high interest in the Museum of Heraldry and Museum of Awards in the Konstantinovsky Palace. However, due to organizational complications, only 37% of the respondents considered the Konstantinovsky Palace as a promising tourist site. Problems with passport control drew attention.

Some 81% of the tourist agencies consider it possible to include visits of the promoted sites in existing tourist packages. Meanwhile 15% are ready to create a special program based on the information received.

During the promotional campaign employees of the Sector of Tourism and Special Programs not only polled the participants but also made a photo report. All these materials will serve as the basis for creating a booklet and promotional materials about the Museum of Heraldry, Museum of Awards, Museum of the Guard Regiments, and Storage Center in Staraya Derevnya.