"This is Rothschild Boulevard? I heard it's the trendiest place in Tel Aviv. Is that true?" asked Herve Deguine. Deguine, Asia regional director and head of worldwide strategic cooperation for Michelin Travel Publications, examined the Tel Aviv street, squinting his eyes and tilting his head.

Suddenly, in the afternoon hours, the dusty boulevard looked like a tourist attraction. The cafes were packed, young people were riding their bicycles, a girl was walking her dog, a peculiar statue stood in the center. The buses even seemed to be emitting less smoke. Yes, maybe it was true.

Deguine seemed pleased by the flourishing boulevard, and expressed it. This is a significant compliment. After all, he represents a company that prints 20 million travel guides each year. Michelin has 450 publications, and its Red Guides are considered the world authority on restaurants and hotels. Half a million copies have been printed of its Red Guide to France. It's hard to write off such authority.

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Deguine came to Israel for the Jerusalem International Book Fair, and to promote, along with the Steimatzky's bookstore chain, the future Michelin Guide to Israel.

It's not certain this book will come into being in the near future. However, it is agreed that it could promote and encourage tourism to Israel, Deguine said.

He cited Egypt as an example. The Michelin guide to Egypt hit stores in 2001, when tourism there was going through a major slump. The guide was promoted and its sales were impressive, and although a direct link cannot be made, Egypt's tourism industry recovered.

Here in Israel, Deguine is negotiating with Tourism Ministry representatives. Michelin wants the government to finance the guide's publication in order to reduce the financial risk involved.

"This is a big investment that won't necessarily be returned. Publishing and producing this sort of guide is expensive. Our writers carefully and personally check every detail. Nowadays, Michelin Publications won't take on the entire risk. This is what we did in Japan, where the tourism ministry financed the Michelin guide's publication," he said.

Deguine explained the value of such a guide: "We specialize in guides that appeal to families. Publishing a Michelin guide to Israel can encourage a different kind of tourist to come here. Jews travel to Israel anyway. They stay with relatives and don't spend large amounts of money. Our guides have a different audience, one that spends a lot of money during its stay. A guide in English and French would appeal to this crowd.

"In the past, we would take this risk more easily, but nowadays we must be cautious," he said.

Standardization

The expression "nowadays" came up repeatedly during the conversation. Deguine said the guidebook industry is in a period of transition, maybe even chaos.

"I travel a lot, and the most prominent phenomenon is standardization," he said. "Everything is becoming similar, standard. The same is true for maps and travel guides. The uniqueness we once had is disappearing pretty rapidly. Everyone is writing about the same destinations, and in many cases we find we are simply being copied. How can we tell when we're being copied? By intentionally planting a few minor errors in a text or a map. If they appear in other guides, then the conclusion is simple."

The Internet is a significant contributor to the standardization of the industry, said Deguine.

"Looking at hotels, for example, we find it is difficult to reserve rooms in small hotels, and all the referrals are for huge hotels and global chains."

The information accessible to cell phone users poses even more obstacles and competition for guidebooks.

"At the moment, the whole field is pretty chaotic, but in the end, in a few years, all these components will complement one another due to each one's advantages. The guides will supply the background and in-depth information. The internet will give immediate, practical information. Problems are developing, but there is no real imminent threat to the printed guide. Many people tell us that they keep their printed guide like an old friend to pull out once in a while," he said.

Less sales, less investment

Currently, publishers are selling less guides. This decreases the investment in each guide, and leads risk avoidance.

"We fear people won't read things that demand a lot of effort," said Deguine. "Traveling these days is much easier. A person who goes somewhere thinks there's no point in making an effort or delving deeper. He can always return sometime in the future if he wants to.

"The changed nature of travelers and trips has also changed the content of guides. It's clear that a guide discussing an important cathedral will describe the visit as swifter and more refreshing, and won't go into detail about the cathedral's gothic ceiling. The topics being significantly expanded are sports, recreation, art, crafts and family activities. The readers are demanding many more new options and suggestions."

The significance of these recent changes is clear: The guidebooks are being constantly updated. On average, said Deguine, the books are revised every two years, but the Paris guide, which sells 50,000 copies a year, is updated at least annually. The guide for Chinese residents traveling to Europe, considered Michelin's biggest hit, was updated five times in the past year.

"Part of this revision stems from demands by the Chinese public," explained Deguine. "If you compare the guide in French to the guide in Chinese, you'll discover that about half the information is different. This is because the Chinese travelers tend to look for cheap restaurants and hotels with big lobbies that express the guests' status; they refuse to stay in hotels that overlook cemeteries and tend to shop in the most expensive stores."

Deguine speaks with longing about the beautiful days he spent volunteering on Kfar Horesh. Since then he's been here quite often, twice with Michelin, but he's always glad to discover a new place, like Rothschild Boulevard.