Printed travel information remains an active part of trip planning and on-the-ground discovery. Recent studies report that 72% of more than 5,300 travelers across 12 countries used printed brochures, maps, or guides during the year from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. In an Ireland study conducted in 2025/2026, 72% of 1,153 visitors and residents used a printed guide, brochure, or map during a stay or trip. These figures describe broader printed visitor information as well as traditional books, so the formats should not be treated as interchangeable.
Contents
- How many travelers use printed guides
- How guidebooks influence destination choice
- Independent travelers and changing itineraries
- Who reads, keeps, and shares visitor guides
- Formats, editions, prices, and satisfaction
- Print and digital planning together
How many travelers use printed guides
The strongest recent usage figures concern printed brochures, maps, and guides as a category. Visitor International’s 2025 Brochure Users Survey found that 72% of more than 5,300 travelers across 12 countries used one of these printed resources to plan or navigate a trip between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. The survey’s geography is international, but the supplied result does not provide a country-by-country breakdown.
Ireland’s 2025/2026 visitor research reported the same headline percentage: 72% of 1,153 visitors and residents used a printed guide, brochure, or map during their stay or trip. The Ireland result is a country-specific measurement, while the Visitor International result combines 12 countries. Neither percentage establishes the readership of paid commercial guidebooks alone.
An earlier Ireland travel-guide study, measured in 2012, separated formats more narrowly. Traditional hard-copy guidebooks were the most frequently cited travel-guide type, used by 37% of respondents. Tour-office information was cited by 17%, travel apps by 14%, and 10% said they used both a guidebook and an app. Because this study predates the more recent surveys by more than a decade, its format shares should be read as historical context rather than a current market estimate. The study was titled An Assessment of Tourist Demand and Use for travel guides.
Trust and discovery are prominent in the newer print measurements. In Ireland, 99% of printed-guide, brochure, or map users said printed visitor information was trustworthy in 2025/2026. Visitor International reported that 98% of international brochure users agreed that brochures provide trustworthy information during July 2024–June 2025. In the Ireland study, 95% discovered a place, attraction, or service they had not previously known existed. In the international survey, 91% said something they read influenced them to visit a place they had not previously planned to visit. The Ireland findings come from The Power of Visitor Brochures on Display in Ireland, while the international findings are reported in 9 Takeaways from the 2025 Brochure Users Survey.
How guidebooks influence destination choice
Guidebooks also appear in destination-choice research, although the measured influence varies by market. VisitBritain’s 20-market study, conducted in spring 2016, found that travel guidebooks influenced destination choice for 25% of respondents overall. The rate was 18% among short-haul respondents and 30% among long-haul respondents.
The same study reported a substantial difference between market groupings: guidebooks influenced destination choice for 39% of Advanced Asia respondents, compared with 11% of emerging-market respondents. These are study categories and should not be generalized to all travelers in those regions. The study is available as VisitBritain Decisions and Influences.
Country-level results in the spring 2016 study show how uneven guidebook influence can be:
| Respondent market | Guidebooks influencing destination choice |
|---|---|
| Australia | 21% |
| Brazil | 23% |
| Canada | 24% |
| China | 24% |
| Denmark | 21% |
| France | 43% |
| Germany | 32% |
| India | 20% |
| Italy | 24% |
| Japan | 44% |
France and Japan recorded the highest percentages among the listed country markets, at 43% and 44%. India was the lowest of the listed country results at 20%, although it remained close to the Australian and Danish results. These figures measure reported influence on destination choice, not purchases of guidebooks, the number of books read, or the proportion of trips planned entirely from print.
Independent travelers and changing itineraries
Printed information appears especially relevant to travelers with flexibility during a trip. In Ireland’s 2025/2026 brochure research, 96% of brochure users were Free Independent Travellers rather than travelers locked into tour itineraries. The wording describes the composition of the brochure-user group; it does not show that 96% of all Ireland visitors travel independently.
The earlier 2012 Ireland travel-guide study reported that independent travelers represented nearly 40% of its sample. Since the two studies use different dates, samples, and definitions, their independent-traveler shares are not a time series. They do, however, place guidebook use within a travel context where readers may be able to add, remove, or reorder activities.
The Ireland brochure findings quantify that flexibility. In 2025/2026, 65% of brochure users changed their itinerary because of something they read in print. A larger 93% were influenced to visit a specific place because of something read in print. The distinction matters: visiting a specific place does not necessarily mean changing the overall itinerary, and the two percentages should not be combined.
Print also connected with commercial action. Sixty-eight percent of Ireland brochure users purchased tickets or merchandise because of something they found in a brochure. Across the international brochure-user survey covering July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025, 88% said something seen in a brochure prompted an online search, booking, or purchase. In Ireland, 89% went online while reading or immediately after reading something in print. Together, these results describe print as a trigger that can lead to digital activity, rather than a format that operates separately from the web.
The international survey also reported that 69% of brochure users were traveling in their own or a rental car. That result is a characteristic of the surveyed users, not a claim about all independent travelers. The survey found that 84% came from the Millennial, Generation X, or Baby Boomer generations combined.
Who reads, keeps, and shares visitor guides
The available readership data includes audience composition as well as usage. Women made up 63% of international brochure users in the survey covering July 2024–June 2025. In the Ireland 2025/2026 research, women accounted for 65% of brochure pickups. These measurements use different units—users in one survey and pickups in the other—so they are comparable as audience indicators but not identical demographic measures.
The Ireland survey also recorded the travel groups associated with brochure pickups. Families accounted for 48%, couples for 33%, and friend groups for 8.5%. The same research reported that 75% of brochure users were based in Ireland and 25% were international visitors. These percentages identify the composition of the Ireland survey’s pickup audience; they do not describe Ireland’s entire visitor population.
Sharing extends the reach beyond the person who first picks up or selects a guide. In the international survey, 95% of brochure users shared their brochure with an average of 2.4 other people. Ireland’s 2025/2026 research reported that 95% passed their brochure on to an average of 2.3 additional people. The studies therefore show a similar sharing rate, with slightly different reported average group sizes.
Retention was also substantial. International brochure users reported keeping brochures for the duration of their trip at a rate of 84%, and 58% said they kept them after the trip. In Ireland, 89% said they remembered information better in print than in other formats. The Ireland result measures perceived memory, while the international results measure keeping behavior; neither should be presented as proof that print is more effective for every traveler.
Formats, editions, prices, and satisfaction
Technology ownership helps explain why guidebooks and apps can coexist. In the 2012 Ireland travel-guide study, 55% of respondents said they did not own a smartphone or related mobile device. Among non-smartphone owners, 34% intended to buy one for travel in the future, while 33% did not plan to buy one for travel. These figures are historical and reflect the technology environment measured in 2012; they are not current smartphone-ownership estimates.
The study also reported smartphone ownership among visitors by country: 64% for respondents from the United States, 50% for Italy and Canada, 44% for the United Kingdom, 41% for Ireland, 32% for France, and 29% for Germany. Because these figures come from the same older study, they are best used to understand the study’s original format comparison rather than to describe present-day device adoption.
Price data was limited but specific. Nearly 50% of guidebook users in the 2012 Ireland study paid €20–€29 for their book. This is a reported price band, not an average price, and it should not be converted into a current equivalent without additional evidence. The same study found that hard-copy guidebooks were the most frequently cited travel-guide type, at 37% of respondents.
Print and digital planning together
U.S. travel-planning data from March 15–23, 2022, provides another way to place guidebooks within the broader planning mix. In a survey of 2,005 U.S. travelers, 8.3% used a commercial guidebook such as Fodor’s or Lonely Planet for travel planning during the prior 12 months. A further 11.9% used a free printed destination guidebook or pamphlet.
The same survey found that 32.1% used at least one listed print resource and 40.1% used at least one listed offline resource for travel planning during the prior 12 months. The listed print resources included more than commercial guidebooks, so the 32.1% figure should not be interpreted as guidebook readership alone. Printed travel or lifestyle magazines were used by 14.7% of respondents. These results are from The State of the American Traveler: Destinations Edition.
Taken together, the measurements show several distinct roles for travel guidebooks and related print. Traditional guidebooks were cited by 37% in the 2012 Ireland study, while 72% of respondents in each of two newer studies used broader printed visitor information. Guidebooks influenced destination choice for 25% overall in VisitBritain’s spring 2016 20-market research, with higher reported influence in some long-haul and country markets. More recent brochure studies recorded itinerary changes, online follow-up, sharing, and retention. The figures describe different populations, formats, questions, and periods, so they are most useful when kept in their original context.