Popularity of printed tourism brochures defying expectations in a growing digital landscape

Ken and Judy Vorwerk make frequent use of brochures and visitor guides when travelling. (ABC Mount Gambier: Sam Bradbrook)

Despite a wealth of tourism information that can be accessed online, the printed brochure is yet to be knocked from its stand and, according to a visitor centre operator, is as popular as ever.

This includes for Ken and Judy Vorwerk, who are well travelled across Australia and make a habit of using visitor centres and tourism brochures to learn about a region and what it has to offer.

“We have a look through and decide what we might like to see,” Ms Vorwerk said.

“And end up going on to see a fair heap of them by the time we go home,” Mr Vorwerk added.

“I like to look at things and go back and look at them. You can do that with a brochure.”

For the couple, brochures offered a compilation of information they would not be able to obtain without considerable personal effort.

“The brochures have got so much variety of information that you’d spend a long time Googling stuff,” Mr Vorwerk said.

A familiar story 

Berri Visitor Centre coordinator Samantha Meeuwenoord says the Vorwerk’s experience is a common one.

“The number one reason people come into a visitor centre is brochures, followed by staff advice and getting maps,” she said.

“With the visitor guides all the regions speak together and we work together to put in the key sites — camping, walking trails, everything.”

She said a survey by visitor information centres found about a third of people “relied heavily on brochures”.

“We’re seeing overwhelming demand for the brochures,” Ms Meeuwenoord said.

A turnabout in fortunes 

HWR Media is one of the main organisations behind the production of visitor guides that feature in the shelves of visitor centres across regional South Australia.

“We started doing visitor guides in the early 90s, starting with the Flinders Ranges and Outback visitor guide,” chief executive Tom Raggatt said.

“The Flinders Ranges and the South Australian Tourism Commission were happy with the resulting product.”

But he said the future of guides was not certain.

“There was a plan that visitor guides wouldn’t be supported beyond 2018,” Mr Raggatt said.

“Despite this, we were still getting contacted by operators and asking when the next guide was coming out.

“Now it has gone full circle and the regions are still keen on their guide. It is a must-have.”

He said it was interesting that only six years ago “we thought everything was going to die”.

“There’s been such a great demand and desire for these printed products. They don’t seem to be phasing out soon,” Mr Raggatt said.

Here to stay … for now

SA Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said the brochure allowed for unique stories to flourish and be put on display.

“They all have a different story to tell. Some of it is about economic product. Some of it is natural assets,” she said.

“You can find the stories of people around the region and it allows the opportunity to holistically look around at what a region can offer.”

Ms Bettison said printed brochures offered comfort and reassurance due to their reliability.

“People like to have a bit of paper, to look at where they are and what they are doing,” she said.

“You can find something of interest to you, which you didn’t even realise was just around the corner.”

Back in the Riverland, Ms Meeuwenoord believed the brochures would continue to be popular for some time yet.

“It is the number one thing people come into the visitor centre to pick up because there’s everything at their fingertips,” she said.

“There’s definitely still a need for brochures.”