Guides’ Interpretive Techniques in Cocreation Combined with the Experience Broker Theory

Abstract

In tourism, cocreation is a bilateral relationship between tourists and tourism providers to enhance tourists’ experiences. In this sense, tour guides as tourism providers cocreate experiences and play an essential role in tourists’ encounters through heritage interpretation. Among tourism providers, tour guides, through guided tours, can be considered a facilitator and a mediator of cocreative experiences. Therefore, this study explores ways to offer cocreative heritage tourism experiences through interpretation, highlighting their function as brokers within the framework of Weiler and Black’s Experience Broker Theory. The methodology employed combined in-depth semi-structured interviews with 10 tour guides, and direct observation of 10 guided tours at the Royal Mosque of Isfahan. The study underscores the role of tour guides in creating a profound spiritual experience for tourists. This research demonstrates the importance of tailored interpretive strategies in enhancing tourists’ cognitive and emotional experiences, reinforcing the guides’ role as empathy brokers within the cocreation paradigm. Tour guides progressed through stages of brokering, from accommodating cultural backgrounds to explaining rituals and mystical concepts, culminating in a profound empathetic experience during the call to prayer. This process allowed tourists to deeply connect with the cultural and spiritual elements of the tour.