Tourists seek out newspapers for information on local events and store sales, but rely less on other forms of media according to research recently carried out by Research Innovations.

The firm's president Walton Brown who also owns the public relations and advertising firm Evoke compiled a 35-page report on tourism advertising on behalf of a private client. That client agreed to allow Mr. Brown to place a summary of his findings in the public domain.

The research shows that significant numbers of tourists both cruise ship and air arrivals look to the local newspapers to find out about local events and store specials as well as the local environment.

One tourist told researchers: “You should always read the local press if you want to find out what's going on and where the deals are.”

Another tourist told researchers: “My last Rolex purchase at Crissons was only because of an ad I saw in a local newspaper.”

Another said reading the papers was a way to absorb the local flavour: “We want to read what people who live here read. This way we feel better in-tuned. Simply reading tourist publications leaves you with a superficial sense of the community.”

At the same time, researchers found that most tourists spend little time if any listening to local radio.

Mr. Brown said: “Certainly radio doesn't factor in the minds of tourists. In terms of publications, I was somewhat surprised at the extent to which tourists pointed to local newspapers as a real source of information.

“The key point here is newspaper tend to be more current. We want to know something is current as opposed to something is created many months in advance because if it is created many months in advance it is not going to be able to respond in as timely a fashion to things that are going on.”

Mr. Brown says the report , “Tourism Advertising: How Best to Spend Your Dollars” was compiled from in-depth interviews conducted in late September and early October.

His staff asked 30 cruise ship passengers and 30 air arrival passengers a series of questions to determine what publications most influence tourist decisions to shop at different retail outlets and related stores and to make choices in terms of entertainment and dining.

He said: “The idea was to get an indication of the key influences on them in terms of finding out about what is going on in Bermuda, where to shop and what activities to engage in.”

Mr. Brown says that while the sampling is small compared to other polls, the research methodology he used in this instance is well established.

“Instead of doing a large sample in which you get simple quantitative answers, you probe a smaller number and get more in depth understanding of their thinking.”

As far as tourist attitudes to other local publications, his researchers found out that large numbers leave the Bermuda magazines they receive en route to the island as well as airline specific magazines on the airline.

Some simply refuse to take them at all while equally large numbers of tourists report they have never seen any Bermuda magazines being distributed at their point of embarkation.

Mr. Brown said: “Many had never heard of any magazine being distributed at airports - these include departure gates in the US, Canada and the UK.”

Mr. Brown says the findings in the report make a very important series of points about what advertising reaches the tourists.

“If you're spending large sums of money you want to know your expenditure is going to have the desired effect which for a store means increasing sales or bringing people into the store.”

The researchers also found that those who travelled to Bermuda aboard cruise ships made a distinction between information they get themselves about shops and local activities and the promotional efforts of cruise ships.

Mr. Brown said: “They view the cruise ship promotional efforts as paid advertising by local shops and view it with less credibility than independently sourced information. Many prefer to look at store windows and see if there are any specials.”

His researchers found that hotel guests spend more time reading the publications placed in their rooms than do cruise ship passengers in part because they tend to spend more time in their rooms.

Tourists including those aboard cruise ships do see tourist specific publications as useful in terms of providing general information about the island, places to see and general information. The researchers found that specialised publications geared towards specific events are also well received by visitors who want information on the event they have travelled here to see as well as for vacation mementoes.

Mr. Brown says the research for the report was so new, his company had no preconceived notions on how tourists would respond. “For us it is really benchmarking information to find out in detail what goes on in the mind of the tourist ,” he said. “It was really a matter of getting some baseline understanding of motivational factors.”