Brochure distribution for tourist attractions
Brochure distribution for UK tourist attractions places A5 or DL leaflets in racks where visitors plan their day: hotels, tourist information centres, campsites, service areas and other attractions. iDO (Info Display OOH Ltd) distributes more than 5 million brochures every month across 150,000 print points, the biggest print distribution network in the UK.
Sugandan Balaji
Where are brochures for tourist attractions actually displayed?
Brochure distribution for tourist attractions is a display media service that puts an attraction's printed brochures into racks in the places a visitor sits with an hour to fill and a decision to make. The rack is the medium. The brochure only works because of where the rack stands.
iDO (Info Display OOH Ltd) holds 150,000 print points across the UK and serves them from 60+ distribution centres, each staffed by teams local to their own areas. For a visitor attraction the useful sites cluster into six types.
- Hotels, B and Bs and guest houses, in foyers and bedroom folders
- Tourist information centres and visitor centres
- Holiday parks, campsites and caravan sites
- Motorway and A road service areas
- Other attractions, where visitors choose their next stop
- Restaurants, pubs, cafes and leisure centres
Why does catchment and drive time matter for a brochure campaign?
A visitor attraction is bought on drive time, not on distance. Families staying in a cottage will travel 45 to 60 minutes for a full day out and about 20 minutes for a half day, so the catchment for an attraction brochure is a set of roads and overnight beds, not a circle drawn on a map.
That is why a racking plan is built outward from the site. The first ring is every hotel, campsite and cafe inside roughly 20 minutes. The second ring, out to about an hour, carries the larger accommodation stock and the service areas that feed the same road. Sites beyond that only earn their place if a real route runs through them.
Local knowledge does the rest. A team that covers its own area knows which hotel foyer has three racks and which has none, and which campsite reception is busy at 9am on a wet Tuesday.
When should a tourist attraction distribute brochures through the year?
Brochure distribution for a UK tourist attraction runs on cycles, not on a single drop. Stock is placed, then checked and replenished on a repeating visit so the rack is never empty in the weeks that matter. The seasonal shape below is the pattern most UK attractions work to.
| Period | Racking activity | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| February to March | First placement, full network | Half term and early season planning |
| April to August | Highest replenishment frequency | School holidays empty racks fastest |
| September to October | Hold the network, re-message | Shoulder season, adult and coach trade |
| November to December | Targeted sites only | Christmas events and gift admissions |
What does a good brochure racking plan look like?
A good racking plan for a tourist attraction names the sites, the quantity per site, the cycle length and the replenishment rule, before anything is printed. Vague coverage claims are worthless. A plan that says 480 sites within 50 minutes of the attraction, 50 brochures per site, topped up every four weeks from March to October, can be checked.
Get the format right at the same time. DL, at 99mm by 210mm, is the standard UK rack pocket and the cheapest to carry in volume. A5, at 148mm by 210mm, gives room for a map and opening times but takes a wider pocket. Anything above roughly 170gsm adds weight and cost to every cycle.
iDO has placed print for visitor attractions since 1997 for clients including Disney, the National Trust, English Heritage, ZSL London Zoo, Merlin Entertainments, Cadw, the Royal Albert Hall, the Museum of London, SS Great Britain, Zip World and the Welsh Rugby Union.
How do you prove the brochures were displayed?
Ask for GPS tracked distribution and photographed proof of display, site by site, dated. iDO has invested over £250,000 in a reporting system that GPS tracks the distribution run, photographs the brochures in the rack and publishes both to a live dashboard with geo located maps, so an attraction can check a site mid-season rather than read a report in November.
The same reporting is what makes replenishment honest. A photograph of a full rack in week one proves nothing about week nine.
Frequently asked
- How many sites does a visitor attraction need?
- Coverage is set by drive time, not a target number. A regional attraction typically racks every viable hotel, campsite, information centre and service area within about an hour, which is commonly several hundred sites. iDO holds 150,000 print points across the UK to draw that plan from.
- What size should an attraction brochure be?
- DL, 99mm by 210mm, is the standard UK brochure rack pocket and the cheapest format to distribute in volume. A5, 148mm by 210mm, carries a map and opening times but needs a wider pocket. Check the rack pockets on your chosen sites before printing.
- How often are racked brochures topped up?
- Good campaigns replenish on a fixed cycle, commonly every four weeks, tightening through the school holidays when racks empty fastest. Ask any distributor to state the cycle in writing and to photograph each replenishment visit, not only the first placement.