Walk into almost any hotel lobby or visitor center and you’ll see it — the classic brochure rack. Rows of shiny flyers promising the “Best Sunset Cruise” or “Top 10 Local Hikes.” They look nice, but here’s the reality no one likes to admit:
Most of those brochures will end up in the trash before anyone even reads them.
And every single one cost you money to design, print, ship, and store.
The Ugly Truth About Brochures
Let’s be real. Brochures used to work. Twenty years ago, travelers would grab a handful and flip through them in their hotel room to plan their day.
Now? Most people are planning trips from their phones weeks before they even arrive. If they do take a brochure, there’s no way to know if they actually read it, acted on it, or just used it to keep their coffee from dripping on the counter.
Meanwhile, you’re covering:
- Design and layout costs every time you want to update
- Printing in bulk to save money (which backfires when things change)
- Shipping to multiple locations
- Storage for boxes of them
- Reprinting when you run out or information gets outdated
One event date change, one price update, and your entire stock is useless.
Why It’s Getting Worse, Not Better
Travelers have changed.
- 70% start planning online before they even set foot in your destination.
- They expect real-time updates — not a flyer that’s been sitting in a rack for 8 months.
- They want multi-language support, especially in tourist-heavy destinations.
- Many care about sustainability, and paper waste doesn’t sit well.
So not only are brochures expensive, they’re increasingly out of sync with how people actually travel today.
The Smarter Replacement: Digital Kiosks
Here’s the thing — you don’t need to keep throwing money at print just because “that’s how it’s always been done.”
Digital kiosks can do everything a brochure can do — and about 100 things a brochure can’t:
- Update instantly when events or prices change
- Show in multiple languages without extra cost
- Include maps, wayfinding, and booking links
- Track exactly what visitors click on so you know what’s working
- Run without a single box of paper in storage
And they don’t just save money. They make money — because they can promote upsells, sell tickets, or advertise local partners directly.
In deployments with visitor centers and DMOs, replacing brochure racks with kiosks has:
- Cut printing costs by 60–80% in the first year
- Increased visitor engagement by 30–40%
- Given operators real data on what tourists actually want
Imagine This…
You run a regional tourism board. Right now, you’re spending $80,000 a year printing brochures. You ship them to 40 hotels and visitor spots. You hope they’re being picked up.
Instead, you replace half those racks with kiosks. You instantly:
- Slash your print run by 70%
- Push out updates in seconds when events change
- See that “Sunset Kayak Tours” is getting 4x more clicks than “Downtown Walking Tour” — so you promote it harder
- Offer real-time discounts that actually move inventory
Suddenly, you’re not guessing if your marketing is working. You know.
For Hotels, It’s Even Simpler
Your front desk staff are busy. They don’t have time to restock brochures or explain where the local food festival is happening this weekend.
A lobby kiosk does the work for them. Guests can:
- Browse events
- See nearby attractions
- Pull up directions on their phone with a QR code scan
- Check real-time availability and pricing
Modeled data from similar public deployments shows kiosks get 2.5x more engagement than brochure racks — and can even lead to direct ticket sales for partner attractions.
The Real Reason to Let Brochures Die
Even if brochures still “kind of work,” they’ll never give you what digital can: data. Without knowing what people are actually interested in, you’re marketing blind.
Kiosks let you adapt daily, cut waste, and keep your brand looking modern. And let’s be honest — no one ever said “I booked my trip because of a brochure I grabbed in a hotel lobby.”
Your Next Step
If you’re a travel agency, tourism board, or hotel:
- Add up your total brochure cost for the last 12 months — include printing, shipping, storage, and waste.
- Pick one high-traffic location to test replacing a brochure rack with a digital kiosk.
- Measure engagement, savings, and revenue from upsells or partner promotions.
You’ll see quickly why paper marketing isn’t just outdated — it’s a money pit. And once you do, you’ll never want to go back.
