Online travel guides, GPS systems and maps accessible through your mobile device are all the rage, but state officials in Utah are running out of the print versions of the official state road map and the Utah travel guide.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that state officials have about 10,000 copies left of the official state highway guide and usually give out about 7,000 per month.
Restocking the maps is not in the offing, the newspaper says, as new versions of the maps go to the printers every three years or so.
All is not lost, though, because a printable version of the map is available on the state’s website.
Meanwhile, the Utah Office of Tourism apparently finds itself in similar straits as travelers’ love affair with crinkly paper that you can actually grasp in your hands and fold into odd shapes apparently continues.
The new Utah Travel Guide reportedly won’t be printed until July and would-be visitors contacting the tourism office in the interim have to settle for a link to the online version of the guide.
The Web to the rescue.
I guess if there is any lesson for tourist boards in all this, it’s that regardless of how electronic you go, there will be a customer segment that wants to do things the traditional way, and you should have a back-up plan.
In other words, build your apps — but keep a few guides and maps on the shelves, too.
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