In the era of the internet and blogs, is the travel brochure a threatened species? And how does the region measure up in terms of its printed materials, particularly those aimed at the luxury sector?
LTN hosted a roundtable at Jumeirah Beach Hotel Conference Centre to discuss this.
Those who remember the launch of the first Emirates Holidays' brochure in 1993 will recall the buzz in the market - a 220-pager covering 23 destinations, it was the first wholesale, professional travel brochure of international standards to hit the streets in the region, a pioneer that for many years had few followers.
But with more agents and operators moving into leisure, particularly luxury leisure, there is a proliferation of brochures in the Gulf - although still relatively few with regional distribution and more than city-wide or national audiences.
So, what sells? Pictures of blue skies and silver sands? Luxury hotels in all their glory? Or should a brochure be a factual manual that acts as an agent's right hand in supplying every detail a consumer might wish to know?
One thing is certain - the trade view is that the brochure is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
"This has been a hot topic worldwide for 10 to 15 years," said Nick Sheppard. "You are selling a dream and customers want something they can touch or feel, no matter whether it's top luxury or mass market holidays.
His view was endorsed by Campbell, who said it was consumer demand that impelled her company to produce a brochure detailing the hotels it represented.
"What we find is that if a customer contacts us, they don't want to be pointed to a website but want a hardcopy in some form or another - they do not trust websites 100 percent.
And, the dynamics of the trade were cited as another reason why printed materials were vital, in a region where agencies might often share one or two PCs between the entire sales team.
"You have to consider the make-up of the Middle East trade where not everyone has technological tools that are often taken for granted elsewhere," said Christine Jabourian, and, speaking from the agent viewpoint, Al Rostamani's Shafeekh Azeez said it was impossible to avoid brochures.
"People come in to collect them and this helps to narrow their search down so they can spend time with a consultant when they return," he said.
Manuals versus picture books
While the brochure as an entity was deemed essential, the question of format and distribution was one where the consensus called for some change.
Jackie McAtee cited the example of Burj Al Arab where customers might want to be given an appealing appetiser to book or something more on the lines of a souvenir to commemorate their stay.
"They are investing a lot of money in that experience and want something to show for it," she said.
"The question comes down to whether they want a brochure or a coffee table book - which might not be hands-on in terms of practicality but defines an experience.
Campbell cited the example of luxury hotel group Grecotels, which is now producing both an agent sales manual and another publication aimed at the consumer, which agents could also give to their prospective clients.
And McAtee confirmed that Jumeirah was looking at producing agent sales manuals "because it is difficult to explain all our different room types in the average brochure".
Conversely, for the top end, Jabourian pointed to the example of Six Senses, which has produced coffee table books as sales tools for each of its Private Reserve suites in the Maldives.
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