Lonely Planet
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| Lonely Planet Publications | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private (subsidiary of BBC Worldwide) |
| Genre | Travel guides |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Founder | Tony Wheeler Maureen Wheeler |
| Headquarters | Footscray, Victoria, Australia |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Industry | Publications |
| Employees | 360 |
| Parent | BBC Worldwide |
| Website | http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ |
Lonely Planet Publications (usually known as Lonely Planet or LP) is one of the largest travel guidebook publishers in the world. It was the first popular series of travel books aimed at backpackers and other low-cost travelers. As of 2008, it published about 500 titles in 8 languages, with annual sales of more than six million guidebooks, as well as TV programs, podcasts and websites.
Lonely Planet has a television production company (Lonely Planet Television), which has produced and developed four series: Lonely Planet Six Degrees, The Sport Traveller, Going Bush and Vintage New Zealand. Another, Bluelist Australia, is on its way. Lonely Planet is headquartered in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with affiliate offices in London and Oakland, CA.
The company is now controlled by BBC Worldwide, who own a 75% share, while founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler still own 25% of the company.
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[edit] History
Lonely Planet's first book, Across Asia on the Cheap, was written and published by Englishman Tony Wheeler, a former engineer at Chrysler Corp. and Warwick University and London Business School graduate, and his wife Maureen Wheeler in Sydney in 1973, following a lengthy jaunt across the continent from Turkey, through Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan before ending up in India or Nepal. The popularity of the overland route declined when Iran's borders closed in 1979. [1] [2] Written with panache and full of strong opinions, it sold well enough in Australia that it allowed the couple to expand it into South-East Asia on a shoestring (nicknamed the 'Yellow Bible') ,quickly became the classic guidebook for budget travelers in this part of the world, and remains one of the company's biggest sellers.
Lonely Planet's first books catered to young people from Australia and Europe (mainly the UK) undertaking the overland hippie trail between Australia and Europe, via South-East Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. This was becoming something of a rite of passage for young travellers, especially Australians and New Zealanders, who spent many months (or years) on the journey.
Tourist facilities were limited in most of the countries en route, and low-budget tourism was unheard of. This was the first (relatively) large-scale influx of first-worlders who took local buses in Thailand, ate at street stalls in India, or stayed with villagers in Afghanistan.
The Lonely Planet clientele developed a word-of-mouth affection for the company and its products. Reader feedback played an important part in keeping most of the guide books updated, Lonely Planet benefited from the Wheelers' skills as writers, publishers and businesspeople.
The guidebook series expanded initially in Asia, with the India guidebook, first published in 1981, being a major milestone. [3] Only in the 1990's did the company expand into Europe and North America. Nowadays the company publishes about 500 titles. In addition to books covering virtually every country in the world, it also published a range of specialised thematic guidebooks.
Over the years its target audience has expanded from budget-conscious backpackers to include more affluent travelers.
In September 2007, Lonely Planet was purchased by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation, with the Wheelers retaining a 25% stake in the company.[4]
The company name comes from a misheard line in "Space Captain," a song by Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. The actual words are "lovely planet" but Tony Wheeler heard "lonely planet" and liked it.
[edit] Recent changes
The Lonely Planet guidebooks' voice has changed over the years as it has entered different markets, such as Western Europe, where many guidebooks exist. As of 2007, the Wheelers announced that they planned to sell the majority share (75%) in the company to BBC Worldwide, in order to spend more time travelling.[5] BBC Worldwide acquired majority control of the company on October 1, 2007.[6]
Lonely Planet's initial strength has caused some problems. In certain contexts many people equate Lonely Planet with backpackers. The 30th anniversary relaunch of its various series was intended to make clearer the split between the backpacker-only products and those (now the majority) aimed at more affluent travellers and tourists. The increasing professionalism of the management and the attempt to break into the massive United States market (which is relatively conservative and prone to litigation) have meant that the quirky, amateurish (in the best sense) tone of the books has diminished. For example, an early edition of Africa on a shoestring has the heading 'Drugs', which includes information on purchasing drugs (mainly marijuana), while the May 1980 edition of South-East Asia on a Shoestring includes information on how to purchase fake student ID cards. This would not be permitted in a Lonely Planet guidebook today. Other quirks included apparently hand-drawn maps and strong opinions (one book called the apartheid government in South Africa 'cretins' and 'narrow-minded psychotics'). The maps are now more professionally drawn. Some strong opinions remain - for example, in the 2003 edition of its guide of Brazil, São Paulo, one of the largest cities in the world, is served by only a few pages and heavily criticized as if it were not worth visiting.
Lonely Planet has also recognised the usefulness of the world wide web, and its free Thorn Tree web forum is used to trade tips and advice. Usefulness did not however translate into profit growth. In world awash with free travel information Lonely Planet failed to develop a strategy to combat the pincer movement of margin erosion from retail giants (Amazon, Wal Mart, Borders, B&N) and slowed growth in their core business. Experiments with 'buy by the chapter' and download to mobile/PDA never gained momentum. Their current focus is the expansion of their range of smaller city 'encounter' guides and other niche guide book opportunities. It remains to be seen how the BBC will recoup their A$250 million dollar investment.
[edit] Official history
The founders, Tony and Maureen Wheeler, have written a book titled Once While Travelling: The Lonely Planet Story (known as Unlikely destinations: The Lonely Planet story in North America) telling how they met and married, how they travelled from London to Australia overland and how Lonely Planet was formed.
[edit] Controversies
In many destinations, Lonely Planet guides are used by many tourists, which means that a mention in the guidebook can lead to large numerous of travellers visiting certain places, villages, or businesses. This invariably brings change to places mentioned, and Lonely Planet has been blamed for the rise of the what is sometimes referred to as 'the Banana Pancake Trail' in South East Asia. [7]. Critics argue that this has lead to the destruction of local culture and disturbance of once quiet sites. Lonely Planet's view is that it encourages responsible travel, and that its job is to inform people, and that it is up to guidebook users to make their informed choice.
The publication of its recent guidebook to Myanmar (Burma) is seen by some as an encouragement to visit this country, thereby supporting its current regime, against the wishes of the opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and led to calls for a boycott of the company. [8] Lonely Planet's view is that it highlights the issues surrounding a visit to the country, and that it wants to make sure that readers make an informed decision. [9]
In April, 2008, Thomas Kohnstamm, a writer for Lonely Planet, who says he has worked on more than a dozen books for the publisher, claimed that he plagiarized and made up large sections of his books. In the case of a guide to Colombia, he said he did not even travel to the country (although he had only been commissioned to write the history section[10]). After an emergency review of Kohnstamm's books, publisher Piers Pickard said that no inaccuracies had been found.[11]
[edit] See also
- Globe Trekker – television series (also known as Pilot Guides) inspired by and originally broadcast under the name Lonely Planet
- Comparison of guidebooks
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Asia's overland route Hit the road, Jack" (July 20 2006). The Economist.
- ^ MacLean, Rory (June 29, 2006). Magic Bus. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-141-01595-8.
- ^ Interview with Tony Wheeler, Podcast, 24 November 2007.
- ^ BBC buys Lonely Planet, The Age, 1 October 2007.
- ^ http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22523539-5005962,00.html Adelaide Advertiser: Time to move on say Lonely Planet founders
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/framework/lonely_planet.html BBC Trust: BBC Worldwide acquisition of Lonely Planet
- ^ http://www.hackwriters.com/Madras.htm
- ^ [http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,26058,23257057-5014090,00.html Unions call to boycott Lonely Planet[
- ^ Lonely Planet's position on visiting Myanmar
- ^ Lonely Planet rebuts 'fake' claim
- ^ Lonely Planet's bad trip, The Daily Telegraph, 13 April 2008
[edit] External links
- Official Lonely Planet website
- "The Parachute Artist" - profile of Lonely Planet and the Wheelers from The New Yorker magazine (April 2005)
- LPG action: a copy/paste/distribute art project that criticises Lonely Planet
- King of the Planet, Tony Wheeler's interview with Venkatesan Vembu, Daily News & Analysis
- Wheelers' comment on their sale to BBC Worldwide
- Radio interview with Tony Wheeler by Rick Steves
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