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[wakingdream]

Interesting. BBC Worldwide has bought Lonely Planet for something like $200 million. Tony and Maureen Wheeler will retain a 25% stake.

Apparently they feel a bit of relief since what they started 30 years ago isn't nearly the same as it used to be.

BBC Buys LP

[radsolv]

"Interesting. BBC Worldwide has bought Lonely Planet for something like $2 million. Tony and Maureen Wheeler will retain a 25% stake."

$2 million.!???? Hey Susie, was it a typo or carelessness. Went back and read the linked original article. They sold out for $203 Million. Much more believable,

Have some ideas as to whee guidebooks should head. Write me if interested.

Art Rom... radsolv@pobox.com

[wakingdream]

$2 million.!???? Hey Susie, was it a typo or carelessness. Went back and read the linked original article. They sold out for $203 Million. Much more believable

Yup. a simple typo. I've changed it to the correct amount:)

[Paul]

I hope you are going to tell us all your thoughts on guide books Art.

[lucky]

I was pretty shocked by that sale... I hope BBC doesn't ruin it.

[wakingdream]

I was pretty shocked by that sale... I hope BBC doesn't ruin it.

I hear you. I don't know enough about the guidebooks to really see the changes over the years, although there probably has been even though they follow a formula of sorts.

Obviously I was pretty young when it all started and wasn't much of a traveler then

I've read that the LP guidebook writers are much younger then they used to be. I do know guidebook writers don't make much. Moon travel guide writers get advances but their travel expenses aren't covered. Not sure about LP writers.

There's an interesting article below from the NY Times. I've thought about what it would be like to travel and write a guide. It wouldn't be as much of a picnic as some might think. You're there to do a job, get all the details, so there's not really time to 'have fun' like you would on your own holiday. On the other hand it would be cool for those who are naturally detail-oriented. There's got to be great satisfaction in being able to provide solid and necessary information for travelers.

A Job With Travel But No Vacation-NY Times

Can anyone comment on any noticeable changes in the LP guidebooks over the years?

[lucky]

My Lonelyplanet from Cambodia ( Circa 1999 ) had hand drawn maps...

[rbisset]

I think the main change is the re-hash jobs. They seem to be changing a few pages and releasing a new version every year. Whereas before they would have spent time researching and getting all the info perfect it is now more important to meet deadlines and get the book out. If you look at the yellow bible over the last couple of issues you'll probably struggle to notice the changes.

[Paul]

I hope the BBC improves on it. But a guide book is merely a guide book.

Regarding changes - I actually reckon (regarding the LP South East Asian books that I know about) this year they have gotten a bit better. It does actually seem they have researched a bit. For years the Thai book has been almost exactly the same except the pictures have changed and the price has gone up, but I think they have got some younger writers to actually go around and visit the places they write about. Laos has improved for sure. The perspectives are from young travellers often without much life experience or idea of culture or some bigger issues, but at least they are trying now.

[radsolv]

I hope you are going to tell us all your thoughts on guide books Art.

Thanks for asking, Paul.

In a sentence I think it would be great if travel guide books were available in electronic form.

My two problems with guide books are they are heavy to cart around on an extended trip. And at best they are a year out of date often more by the time they are published and in bookstores.

If they were in electronic form, with a Sony Q Reader or maybe even a PDA or iphone it would be possible to carry a couple of guides for each country rather than a single regional guide.

Then too it seems that electronic guides could be updated to 'yesterday' much more easily. I can even see allowing a hotel, restaurant, museum etc. access to update their objective data themselves. Like prices, hours, phone numbers, e mail addresses, web sites and Lat/Long Coordinates for entry into a GPS and easy homing in.

Subjective information would be under the control of the publisher of the guide. That is evaluating quality,-- cleanliness, comfort, affability, value, etc.

It would also be great if genuine travelers could add their comments directly to the e guide. The obvious problem that would have to be solved is how to distinguish real bouquets from those invented by proprietors of the business themselves posing as random travelers.

Must check it out. But I seem to recall that Lonely Planet used to offer a free electronic download of new info since their last publication date.

I really like the DK Eyewitness Guides series. But a big part of their appeal is their colorful maps and photos. The Q Reader handles photos but only in grey scale.

Electronic books should be significantly cheaper than print books, I would think. Costs of paper, printing, binding, distribution.

Art rad

[rbisset]

You can download chapters from LP guidebooks now from their website.

[wakingdream]

You can download chapters from LP guidebooks now from their website.

Yeah, that's cool. That's definitely a positive that guides, or parts of them, are more accessible to people.

It would also be great if genuine travelers could add their comments directly to the e guide. The obvious problem that would have to be solved is how to distinguish real bouquets from those invented by proprietors of the business themselves posing as random travelers.

That would be really convenient and helpful. I'm a major review reader. Sometimes I get assignments to write about places I've never been and I pour over reviews before writing anything. You can usually tell who's a picky, hard-to-please person and who genuinely means what they write. Reading people's thoughts on a variety of things gives me the best sense of value for dollar, general feel etc.

If you've got enough reviews you can establish the common thought easily. Most might be raving reviews about a hostel (or anything) and then you get the few where people hated it. So from there you can tell it was the odd bad experience, not bad as a whole so likely worth giving it a go.

Unfortunately I don't think there's a way to completely exclude people from touting their own business, or having someone else do it. People can be very sneaky! I personally wouldn't publish any reviews until there was a certain number of them. One or two people's thoughts are not enough to put out there. It's the reviews on a whole that are most valuable.

[Paul]

I was going to suggest something similar.

Someone should head in that direction of a more comprehensive electronic guide book (like the one from Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy).

At the moment with paper based ones, I notice that for a town that may have 10 - 15 accom options, they generally list about 3. With electronic guidebooks, you could have so much more comprehensive info on places and perhaps web links to festivals, local govt sites, bus timetables, etc.

Much more betterer than an out of date heavy paper guide book.

Maybe.

[sianeth]

Whats the likelihood of that happening in the near future, does anyone know? I know you can download London/New York tube maps and the like onto your ipod at the moment... surely its just a matter of time...

[radsolv]

Whats the likelihood of that happening in the near future, does anyone know? I know you can download London/New York tube maps and the like onto your ipod at the moment... surely its just a matter of time...

Yes a good start but have you noticed how much they want to download a guided walking tour of London? Think it is close to $US 40

Also on Lonely Planets 'generous' offer to let you down load Mix & Match only the chapters you want. Not going back to double check my facts, but as I recall the LP guide to Carribean Central America had over thirty chapters. You could down load One of the chapters for $US 3 to 4. Do the arithmetic. Real bargain.

The Last shall be First!

Was a bit confused when I followed the e mail link to this site. Apparantly since my last visit some one at TP thought it would be better to place the most recent Reply to a Forum First rather than at the end. This makes some sense from one point of view, less sense from another. I can deal with it either way but I do think that even if the most recent post is placed first it should not be labeled as Post #1 but given its # in the sequence received. I prefer chronological order to reverse chrono. Really just a matter of in which direction you scroll.

[wakingdream]

Also on Lonely Planets 'generous' offer to let you down load Mix & Match only the chapters you want. Not going back to double check my facts, but as I recall the LP guide to Carribean Central America had over thirty chapters. You could down load One of the chapters for $US 3 to 4. Do the arithmetic. Real bargain.

Hmm, for some really stupid reason I wasn't really thinking of the cost and had no idea what it is. Now I do. No, probably wouldn't do it that way. With so much free information out there, you can very easily put together your own customized guidebook.

Apparantly since my last visit some one at TP thought it would be better to place the most recent Reply to a Forum First rather than at the end. This makes some sense from one point of view, less sense from another.

I was a bit confused at first too! I asked about it in another thread and Jacques says they are looking for a way to put the original post back in its place but keep the order reversed how it is now. Without the original post first the thread doesn't make the most sense. Also noticed when you click on your e-mail notification it takes you to the first post which is now the last post. Make sense? Will take some getting used to but the thought behind it is new readers won't have to sift through really old posts but can go back if they like.

[wakingdream]

I have noticed that some of them charge hotels and restaurants for being included in the guides.

That's interesting. Where did you notice this?

I don't believe in that. I think services should get in any guide b/c of true value for money. Because they reign over their competition. Great service, excellent atmosphere, comfortable accommodation etc. (whether it's a hostel, guesthouse or a hotel) not b/c you shell out a chunk of money. Any place can do that.

[rbisset]

I have noticed that some of them charge hotels and restaurants for being included in the guides.

The authors have to go incognito and not let on that they are LP writers. However I'm sure that word gets around quickly when they are in town and they start treating all guests like royalty.

I hope this will not change and that the new owners will separate quality information from making money with paid advertising.

The BBC doesn't do advertising.

[wakingdream]

Please, don’t get me wrong when I say ´some guides charge´etc. I am referring to some guides in general. I don´t think it is the place to name any of them, as it is not what is being discussed. I am definitely not talking about LP doing this

No matter which guides they are, it's pertinent info. I think it's important for travelers to know if guides do charge, but don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for names.

I'm not sure everyone considers how recommendations are made yet I believe that's fairly important. Not everyone uses LP.

I have personally only used a guidebook suggestions a few times (LP) and have found them fairly good but reeling with backpackers of course. Great sometimes, other times, not so much.

When companies of the size of LP are bought, it sometimes implies changes in their business model. I think this is rather normal and hope and think it will not affect the information provided by them.

That's usually inevitable. A change of hands will most likely bring about a change in structure. I really like the way BBC operates, from what I know anyway. I have faith that they won't be making extremely significant changes. Loyal LP fans have grown accustomed to the guide format and obviously like it based on LP's success.

Significant changes would be like purchasing a successful restaurant and changing the entire menu. Not good.