Tour operator brochures remain important for older clients and should not be ditched, said agents at this year’s Global Travel Group conference.
Travel agents were responding to recent comments by Thomas Cook’s digital advisory board chairman John Straw, who called brochures “evil”, saying they should no longer be racked in travel retailers because of the limited information they contain compared to the internet.
Myriad Travel director Tiffany Woodley said: “I go to bed with a brochure. Customers still want brochures on the high-street. They ask for brochures.”
Deben Travel managing director Lee Hunt said: “Having an older demographic, our customers will come in and still want a brochure. Being a small unit we have to be selective about which brochures we stock but if customers want certain ones we will get them for them. I would not like brochures to go – that would be a sad day.”
But Nick Harding-Mckay, managing director of Travel Designers, said: “I would happily ditch brochures tomorrow if I could, but some older clients still want them.”
Brochure content should be available on tour operators’ websites with videos and offers, he added.