We are constantly assessing new technology to enable us to bring you the best and most innovative travel guides available.

With the increased use of tablets and smartphones, we have looked at the usefulness of supplying our guide books in both printed and digital form.

To check tourists’ reaction, we have undertaken market research to obtain independent views on the merits and drawbacks of the two travel guide formats.

After interviewing tourists from a wide range of ages, the top 5 issues raised were:-

• Out and about in the bright summer sun, tourists complained that the screen clarity of a tablet was not sufficient to make it easy to read.
• Smartphones were also seen to suffer from this and the added drawback of too smaller screen size, making them even more difficult to read on the move.
• You don’t need chargers, adaptors or carry cases with a printed book and you don’t have to worry about battery life.
• Tablets were seen as too cumbersome and a little ‘geekish’ to carry around on a day out.
• Interviewees confirmed that they would be apprehensive carrying such expensive devises as tablets around on holiday, especially for a day on the beach. A book can get wet or sandy without a problem and is not likely to be stolen.

There were no negative comments expressed against the traditional printed guide book format. However, as most Greek hotels have internet access and the majority of cafés and bars now offer free WiFi, interviewees rated highly our unique concept of a members’ website containing a wide range of supporting information, including the very latest tourist news.

Recent media reports have confirmed that sales of e-books have dropped, as have e-book readers, whilst sales of printed books are on the increase.

And so, the unanimous verdict was that the printed book still by far outperforms “the new kid on the block”!

We will re-visit this subject in the future, but with the present technology, we feel that our approach of linking the printed book with a comprehensive website, offers the traveller the best overall format.