Holidaymaker’s use of travel guides (paper and digital) while holidaying in Ireland

Abstract

Holidaymaker’s use of Smartphone technology, is growing rapidly, to the point where online use from mobile devices is expected to surpass traditional computer internet use by 2014. This has become increasingly apparent in Irelands tourism destinations. As a result many of the Irish tourism business are developing travel apps. This research forms an important baseline study to on visitor’s use of travel guides, particularly with regard to mobile devices such as “Smartphones”, as well as downloadable “apps”. The results give the Irish tourism industry an understanding on (paper and digital) travel guide use. As noted by (Hanrahan and Krahanbuhn 2011) there has been a significant rise in Irish tourism providers creating travel apps. With over a half million apps today, most people avail themselves of 30 or so, and of that 30, only about ten are used regularly. Many apps seem to reflect an approach that resembles early websites, copying hard copy versions, without taking advantage of the unique opportunities mobile applications offer. This paper was commissioned by Fáilte Ireland in order to identify and assess how domestic and international visitors use traditional travel guides with a focus on the use of mobile devices such as “Smartphones”, as well as downloadable “apps” when traveling in general and within Ireland. This paper specially focuses on the identification of visitor travel guide use, particularly as it relates to the use of traditional traveller information sourcing vs. future growth and options for technology based application solutions (e.g. apps for mobile devices such as Smartphones). The paper argues the role of the tratitinal guide book and the applicability of smart technologies for various tourism sectors and regions, including recommendations to develop relevant programs.