Investigating the appeal of a visitor guide : a triangulated approach

Purpose: Destination management organizations deliver travel-related information through visitor guides to build destination awareness and attract potential tourists. Therefore, this research aims to investigate how people read such a guide, understand their attitudes and to provide recommendations on enhancing its design. Design/methodology/approach: This research used eye-tracking technology in tandem with surveys and in-depth interviews. Eye-tracking technology uncovered the elements of a visitor guide that attracted particular attention, whereas surveys and interviews provided deeper insights into people’s attitudes toward them. Findings: People do not spend attention equally on each page of a visitor guide. Instead, they look at the reference points (i.e. photo credits, photos, headings and bolded words) and then read the adjacent areas if the information triggers their interest. The characteristics of the attractive components of a visitor guide were discussed and suggestions on designing a more appealing guide were provided. Research limitations/implications: The triangulated approach not only generated objective and insightful results but also enhanced research validity. This exploratory sequential mixed method can usefully be applied to test other stimuli and assess attention. Practical implications: To be deemed appealing, a visitor guide should avoid ads unrelated to the destination, include more photos, use the list format and bolded words, add stories or selected comments from social media and provide well-designed maps. Originality/value: This research fills a gap in the literature by using a triangulated approach including eye-tracking, survey and interviews to examine a 68-page visitor guide. The concept of reference-point reading behavior is proposed. Practical implications are discussed to improve the design of a visitor guide.