1 VISITORS MANAGEMENT AND INTERPRETATION OF THE OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE

VISITORS MANAGEMENT AND INTERPRETATION OF THE OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE

Name: Course: Institution: Instructor: Date

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Question 1: Resources and products at OSV Old Sturbridge Village is one of the largest outdoor history museums in the Northeast, USA. It is an education resource that explores a journey through a rural New England town of the 1830s. The museum is opened all year round and contains antique buildings, a working farm, and historians in costumes and water-powered mills. Visitors are invited to explore the antiques buildings, enjoy hands on crafts and meet heritage breed animals and get inspired by the rural New England past. There are several dining opportunities available at the museum for visitors such as Bullard Tavern, Village Caf and Miner Grant Store. The museum offers free parking space with reserved spaces for even larger vehicles. For visitors, the museum offers strollers that are rented on first come first serve basis while wheelchairs are available for free. The museums sell gifts certificates that can be found online or at the museum gift shop. The museum also offers Horse-drawn sleigh rides throughout the day except during lunch break when the horses are feed. Question 2: General management and visitors management issues OSV encounters The museum visitors management is achieved by creating a free parking space for campers and RVs. They have also increased the capacity of the numerous facilities to cater for different clientele. They have constructed self guided trails to protect natural resources of the museums and reduce resource degradations. The pricing strategy is also a general management tool that Old Sturbridge Village utilizes effectively to manage the museum where tourists admission fee is paid at the entrance and varies with seasons (Shackley, 2012).

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Question 3: Interpretation OSV uses to aid visitors experience The museum has also put in place some soft measures to influence the conduct of the visitors during their visit. They provide tour guides to educate and interpret to the visitors the displayed exhibits and heritage attractions (Moscardo and Ballantyne 2008). Old Sturbridge Village provides guided walks and tours, brochures, maps, lectures and audio-- visual presentations, signs, guidebooks pamphlets, and information centers interpretative media such as self guided trails and reconstruction of the past(Inkson & Minnaert,2012). Question 4: Ideas to improve visitors management at OSV In order to improve the management of visitors at Old Sturbridge Village, the management can engage public transport sector to provide transport to visitors to and from the museum. To minimize queues they can offer a range of distractions making the waiting time less tiring and shorter. This can be done by installing screens, display, music and other forms of entertainment. The management can market the museums during low seasons to increase the capacity (Inkson & Minnaert, 2012). Question 5: Importance of linking visitors management with interpretation at HVAs Linking visitors management with interpretation at HVAs is significant because visitors need to be oriented and informed on the main features and facilities available at the sites (Leask & Yeoman, 1999). This helps management to develop a plan that delivers services to visitors. quality products and

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Bibliography Moscardo and Ballantyne (2008) Chapter 14 in Fyall et al (2008) Shackley, M. (2012). Visitors Management. Burligham, Jordan Hill Oxford OX2 8DP Inkson, C., & Minnaert L. (2012). Tourism Management: An Introduction. London, Sage Publication Ltd Oliver Yard . Leask, A,& Yeoman,I (1999). Heritage Visitor Attractions: An Operations Management Perspective. London, Thomson Learning