Miles of Smiles Directional Company - Berkshire Maps

International Association of Visitor Information Providers

Surprise! Brochures are Still the Most Effective Form of Advertising

Statistics What Brochure Clients Have to Say Brochure Effectiveness Research

"Brochures remain one of the most commonly used tourist information services."

Kathleen Andereck, Professor, Arizona State University Evaluation of a Tourist Brochure Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol 18 (2) 2005 brochure rack

International Assessment of the Effectiveness of Brochure Distribution Racks for During Trip Planning and Purchases, December 15, 2003

"Brochures play a greater role than the Internet, for example, in influencing the decisions of travelers who have already left home."

Claude Peloquin, "Are Tourism Brochures Still Effective?" Tourism Intelligence Network, 2006

40% of visitors say tourist maps and brochures influence unplanned stops!

Brett Bylsma
Research and Analysis Tourism Western Australia Swan Valley Tourism Research 2006

78% of Montana Visitors Used Brochure Racks During Trip!

Dr. Norma Nickerson, Professor, University of Montana
Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Non-Resident Vacationer Trip Planning, 2005

59% of potential travelers to Montana cited travel brochures as the 2nd most important travel information source.

On Target Consulting and Research
Travel montana Usability Study final Research Report, May 2008

96% of California visitors used brochures and visitor guides for DURING TRIP planning.

Lauren Schlau, Principal LSC Consulting, Los Angeles
Summer Visitors to the California Welcome Centers, 2007

32% of travelers say travel brochures most trusted information source.

2007 National Leisure Travel Monitor
Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Ypartnership (formerly YPBR) and Yankelovich Partners

65% of visitors used brochure racks during their trip.

Dr. Patrick Tierney, Professor San Francisco State University
International Assessment of the Effectiveness of Brochure Distribution Racks for During Trip Planning and Purchases, December 15, 2003

46% of visitors say LePal's tourist brochure was the #1 influence for visiting the attraction.

2007 Study for LePal Parc D'Attraction
Kheolia Opinion and Market Research

34% of pleasure travelers to British Columbia cited brochures or official travel guides as a source of travel information.

Lang Research, Inc., Profile report dated February 2008
Canadian Travelers to British Columbia, TAMS 2006

25% of California visitors used brochures and visitor guides for BEFORE TRIP planning.

Lauren Schlau, Principal LSC Consulting, Los Angeles
Summer Visitors to the California Welcome Centers, 2007

"Over the last calendar year, we have experienced a significant increase in customers from the year before, while other businesses in our industry have experienced flat or decreased customer counts. We believe the distribution of our rack cards in the Bay Area contributed to our increased business." Tom C. Davies, V. Sattui Winery, California
Certified Folder Display Service, Inc (Distributor)

"We noticed an immediate increase in traffic and redemptions since we started using CTM's rack card distribution services."

Benjamin Maddy, Dave & Buster's of Time Square, New York
CTM Media Group (Distributor)

"Certified's brochure distribution program is one of our most effective marketing tools - and the service is first rate!"

Deborah Muehleison, Royal George Bridge, Colorado
Certified Folder Display Service, Inc (Distributor)

"Kenney Communications brochure distribution program is one of the most successful forms of marketing for Ripley's Orlando. Their staff provides impeccable service and the program has been essential in informing the visitor about our attraction."

Joe Kasinski, Ripley's Believe It Or Not!, Florida
Kenney Communications (Distributor)

"Gateways On Display has proven to be an effective and efficient way to have our brochures get into the hands of potential customers."

Brian Bosley, Pocono Whitewater and Skirmish Paintball, Pennsylvania
Gateways On Display (Distributor)

"The distribution network supplied by CTM is one of our mosst valuable marketing strategies."

Marsha Traber, Liberty Ride, Massachusetts
CTM Media Group (Distributor)

The International Association of Professional Brochure Distributors (APBD) and Dr. Patrick Tierney, a renowned reseacher at San Francisco State University, conducted an international cooperative survey of travelers in 14 cities representing three countries - the United States, Canada, and Ireland.

A total of 1,259 surveys were completed during the summer of 2003, the results of which are available for download at www.iapd.org. Here are some of the highlights...

77% of respondents were leisure/vacation travelers
75% of respondents were on multi-day trips
98% of respondents who were on multi-day trips picked up brochures from brochure racks either before or during their trip.

Respondents indicated brochures obtained from brochure racks were the most frequently used source of visitor information while traveling.

Brochures from a brochure rack	52%
Friend or relative	42%
Websites	31%
TV	15%
Billboards	11%
Newspapers	10%
Radio	5%

21% of respondents visited a new area or attraction as a result of information obtained from brochure display racks.

12% of respondents changed their travel plans as a result of information obtained from brochure display racks.

In summary, results from this traveler survey conclusively demonstrated that brochures out competed all other media as a source of visitor information while traveling!

There is strong evidence that brochures continue to have their basic appeals of simplicity, colorful and helpful presentation, and placement relevancy.