Free Walking Tour as a Way of Urban Patriotism Actualization

Abstract

The paper deals with some aspects of free city tours as a modern tourism practice and the features of its introduction in Ukrainian cities, special its impact on cities inhabitans. For this purpose there was made a series of interviews with the participants of such tourism practice in the Dnipro. Based on this study there author describes such free walking tour effects as updating urban identity of participants such excursions, increased feelings of confidence and feelings of co responsibility for the city's future with others inhabitants. Analysis of informants’ photos that were made during the free walking tour allowed selecting groups of objects in the visual patriotism at Dnipro. There are urban symbols, unique buildings of the city, important infrastructure facilities, old and new monuments of history and culture.
It shown that the free walking tour as a modern touristic practice is the effective means of local patriotism stimulation. Given the fact that the key factors of choosing such excursions is existent interest to hometown and patriotic feelings, the author affirms that free walking tour does not form patriotism of townspeople, but actualize it.