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Third Edition of Popular Joshua Tree Gateway Communities Visitor Guide Coming This Summer!


The popular Sun Runner Guide to the Joshua Tree Gateway Communities visitor guide is being updated and prepared for publication later this summer. The guide, the only visitor guide for the hi-desert communities around Joshua Tree National Park, is in its third edition in both print and enhanced/embeddable digital versions.


This year's visitor guide will be more comprehensive than ever before, with the exciting inclusion of our new Sand to Snow National Monument. In addition, a mobile-friendly website is being built to support the visitor guide, allowing the inclusion of additional editorial, videos, music, photo slideshows, maps, and itineraries for visitors to the hi-desert region around Joshua Tree National Park.


The Sun Runner is asking local desert artists to submit high resolution images (vertical), either photography or artwork, for consideration for the cover image of the new visitor guide. A $100 gift certificate to the 29 Palms Inn will be awarded to the artist whose work is chosen for the cover, along with an artist profile in the guide. Submissions may be sent directly to publisher@sunrunnersw.com, or may be uploaded to that e-mail address via a free FTP site such as www.wesendit.com.



Business and community support for the visitor guide is essential. Visitor guides are an essential component to destination marketing and play a significant role in increasing - and expanding - travel to a destination.

Facts about Visitor Guides From professional destination marketing studies

Travelers request visitor guides primarily to serve as a trip planning tool.

The top motivations for ordering a visitor guide are to have a resource to plan a vacation and learn about the destination, and to have a guide to take on a trip.

Attractions and maps are the top content sought from visitor guides. About 80 % of users were seeking information on the destination’s attractions and nearly 70% wanted maps.

Nearly 70% of potential visitors actually travel to the destination after receiving a visitor guide. But nearly 7% make two to four additional trips to the destination after receiving the guide.

20% of visitor guide users had not made their destination decision when they requested the guide. Of those subject to influence by the guide, almost 90% decide to visit the destination because of the visitor guide.

Visitor guides are effective at lengthening stays in the destination. Nearly 28% of those who already made their destination decision said the guide influenced the number of days spent in the destination. Almost 71% reported increasing their intended length of stay in the destination by an average of nearly two full days.

Once a traveler receives a visitor guide, it largely becomes the primary trip planning resource with more than 80% using the guide as a trip planning resource prior to arrival, and 75% using it in market—far and away the highest degree of usage amongst resources tested by the Western Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus Education & Research Foundation.

The guide is largely used to select attractions and dining choices, however, more than 21% used visitor guides to select a hotel.

Visitor guide users who traveled to the destination were primarily hotel guests that stay 3.5 days in the destination and spend approximately $350 per day. The average party size is three people.

Nearly 90% of undecided travelers who received a visitors guide said the guide helped them make the decision to visit the destination.

While more than 81% of visitor guide users said they used a printed visitors guide in planning their trip, nearly 25% said they used a digital version of the visitors guide for trip planning purposes, and about 42% used online maps.

In-market resources utilized by visitor guide users in planning their activities while in the destination, include 75% using the printed visitor guide, and about 7% using the digital visitor guide.

There is a high degree of satisfaction with visitor guides—more than 95% of guide users serveyed who visited the destination in the guide were Satisfied (32.3%) or Very satisfied (63%) with the guide.

Articles are considered the most helpful content in visitor guides (76.5%), though 67.3% of visitor guide users rated advertisements as helpful to trip planning as well.

A study by the Western Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus Education & Research Foundation found the overall economic impact of each visitors guide sent to a potential traveler requesting a guide was $48 per guide.

Studies find visitor guides not only increase length of stay, but also increase the number of attractions and events people include in their trips.

While the majority of visitor guide users tend to be Baby Boomers, Millennials comprise 20% of visitor guide users.

Visitor guides do a better job at engaging travelers than websites, based upon length of time spent by travelers with each. Studies showed 45% of guide users spent more than 45 minutes reading the guides, and another 53% spent between 15 and 45 minutes. Visitors to Destination Marketing Organization websites, however, spend within three to five minutes on site, with an average of three to five clicks.

A total of 85% of visitor guide users note that they appreciated the advertising as content.

Overall, half of all travelers (not just those who request a visitor guide) use print publications such as a visitor guide to make their travel decisions. This percentage has increased, not decreased, since 2007.

Destination Analysts recommends the use of print and digital media, which is why The Sun Runner is now including in the third edition:

A print visitor guide

An enhanced shareable/embeddable digital visitor guide

A mobile-friendly website

In addition, the visitor guide will receive support from The Sun Runner Magazine, and The Joshua Tree Tortoise Telegraph, and their social media outlets.

The Visitor Guide will be available to embed on any websites that wish to include it, from local government and organizations, to sites for hotels, attractions, restaurants, tours, vacation rentals, and others. It will be shareable by social media, with links and enhanced media, and it will be downloadable and printable by online users.

The printed Visitor Guide will be available for all chambers of commerce and local organizations to hand out and mail out to interested travelers.

The third edition of the Visitor Guide will be published late summer/early fall 2016. It is recommended that businesses, organizations, and area governments reserve advertising space early and support this guide. We plan to increase the page count and improve the paper stock for the publication of this third edition.

All businesses not only in the hospitality industry, but who benefit from our 2+ million annual visitors, as well as relocations and locals whose jobs depend upon tourism as an economic development tool, should support the visitor guide. Chambers and organizations that want to highlight their support for our communities and welcome visitors, should participate. Local governmental entities - town, city, and county - should participate on the basis of tourism as an economic development tool benefiting their constituents. With the addition of the Sand to Snow National Monument, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, and communities in the Banning Pass may want to support the guide.

For advertising rates and information, and inquiries regarding the third edition of our visitor guide, please e-mail publisher@sunrunnersw.com. Thank you.

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