Oklahoma Travel Publications: Opportunities & Challenges

Between the Oklahoma Travel Guide, Events Guide and many specialty brochures, our department is constantly working on one or more print pieces at a time. In addition to the day-to-day publication management, we keep our finger on the pulse of print trends, evaluate guides from all 50 states, and continually look for ways to improve our travel publications.

For those of you who produce your own print brochures or guides, you know how challenging it can be to develop fresh and creative copy year after year, while also being as comprehensive as possible without losing the readers' interest.

Recent white papers and travel blogs have discussed the increasing importance of online travel planning tools and how they are changing the landscape for printed guides. One trend is to use a print guide as a lure piece and direct customers online for more specific information. While we still recognize the need for community listings and attraction information in our travel guide, we understand the changes on the horizon and are evaluating strategies for the best way to adapt in the years to come.

One important tool we rely on is research. We've commissioned a regional survey to take an in-depth look at our state travel and events guides. It asks travelers and potential travelers about how they use travel publications, what information they are seeking, and how they want to receive that information. The results won't be in for a few more weeks, but we are excited to see the feedback and incorporate it into our 2010 publication strategy.

In the meantime, we're conducting business as usual in terms of gathering community, lodging and attraction updates for the Travel Guide and events for the 2010 Events Guide. The official deadline for updates was April 1, but we realize the challenge of gathering the information (especially for setting 2010 event dates), and we'll continue to accept your updated information beyond this deadline. That said, the sooner you submit your information the better your chances of either being included in the guides or having corrected information printed.

In case you've missed our multiple mailings and e-mails about this topic, the forms can be downloaded here. Just a reminder, listings are free so there's no reason not to participate!

We're also offering some new advertising options in our publications this year. All of the details on that can be found here. You may notice that for the first time you can advertise on TravelOK.com and in a Destination Dining & Accommodations Guide. This guide is something new that we have not produced before. Several other states produce an accommodations guide separate from their travel guides and we are testing this idea in our publication research. If the results show that it does not make sense to produce a separate piece and keep the information in the main travel guide, we will contact the advertisers and make appropriate changes to their order.

The same goes for the Oklahoma Events Guide. We are one of a few states that still print a calendar of events. It is not only a costly endeavor but a challenging one, since many events change their date or location after printing and can only be updated on TravelOK.com. We see the value of having a printed Events Guide, but will look to the research results to see how or if we need to adapt to meet current customer demand.

I realize these changes can be scary and exciting all at once. Our department wants to be very candid and transparent about our decision making. It is likely that this information will seem alarming to some and welcomed by others. It is my intention to keep you informed about the tough decisions we are facing -- both fiscally and for consumer demand.

Once our publication research is complete we will share more details on how and if our travel publications will be impacted. We very much appreciate your understanding and patience during this transition. The end result will always be to streamline our guides so that they lure visitors to your area and our state.

Warmest regards,
Lindsay Vidrine
Director of Public Relations, Travel & Tourism Division