Intercultural interpretation strategies in the museum: the case study of a guided visit to the Coach Museum in Lisbon

Revista publicada no âmbito da conferência internacional INVTUR 2012.A guided tour to the Coach Museum can either be a nightmare or a pleasant dream depending on the information guides convey about the vehicles exhibited. Lively visits may be provided where intercultural interpretation strategies are deployed, awakening in the tourist different kinds of emotions, from piety to amusement, from fantasy to reality. This paper discusses the different characteristics displayed by tourist guide interpretations at the Lisbon Coach Museum. The author followed fifty professional guides during their tours at the museum, during the months of September and October 2009. The anthropological technique applied is direct observation. The study of tourist guides at their working context enables the identification of the intercultural skills developed by these professionals, such as their good knowledge and their language proficiency. However, some inappropriate attitudes were also detected. The interpretative strategies adopted in communication serve the scope of engaging tourists in the visit performance – questions, humour, storytelling, connections with the tourists’ reality and fantasy. Although the information conveyed is similar, the interpretation strategies vary according to the tourists’ nationality and to the guides and their personal characteristics. Conclusions suggest that the appropriate intercultural communication skills and the effective use of intercultural interpretation strategies facilitate the change of the tourists’ world representations