Platform presence of audio guides by regions of Kazakhstan: quantitative and qualitative analysis

Abstract

Object: Qualitative and quantitative research of audio guides in the context of the regions of Kazakhstan, presented on the izi.Travel platform. Methods: Bibliographic analysis, methods of systematization and grouping, a content analysis method, a qualitative research of the content of audio guides, audiovisual content and routes. Results: The main results of the research can be conditionally divided into two main groups: the first is the results of a bibliometric analysis, which showed that the number of publications directly related to the izi.Travel platform is small, while there are more than 70 for the query “audio guides”. In general, this suggests that the scientific direction under study is a new economic phenomenon that is gaining momentum and is relevant and necessary for the further development of excursion activities and the tourism economy; the second is the results of a qualitative and quantitative research of audio guides presented on the platform by regions: for example, their total number is 94, tours are presented by types - 53 units and audio guides for museums - 41 units; speaking of languages, the majority of audio guides are in Russian (81 audio tours), English (58 audio tours) and Kazakh (53 audio guides). The following locations are presented on the platform: Ganyushkino, Naurzum, Sarayshyk, Uralsk, Akkum, Aktau, Aktobe, Alma-Ata (Almaty), Arystanbab, Atyrau, Zhympity, Kabanbay, Karaganda, Kokshetau, Kostanay, Mikhailovka, Nur-Sultan, Petropavlovsk, Rudny, Satpayev, Semey, Taraz, Turkestan, Shymkent. Qualitative analysis showed that, in general, many audio guides are presented in a standard way, but, as a rule, they contain quite capacious and complex information about objects; at the same time, there are routes that are creative and unique, including: the city of Almaty – “Museum of rare books”, “SPUE Museum of Folk Instruments named after Ykhlas”, “Excursion to the Museum of Arts named after. A. Kasteyev with audio descriptions*”, “Metro Almaty”, “Tourist bike route”, “Multimedia center of traditional music”, “Women of the Great Steppe”; the city of Kostanay – “Museum of computer technology”, “In the footsteps of the teacher-educator Ibray Altynsarin”; the city of Karaganda – “Murals of the city of Karaganda”, etc. Conclusions: Despite the available audiovisual routes through tourist sites and territories of the country, their number is small; at the same time, several tours have not been developed sufficiently, which affects the overall quality of the content listened to by the tourist.