Why does Rick Steves only does countries in Europe and not the rest of the world?

I understand. But wouldn't Rick want to broaden his horizons and explore the world more?

For himself, personally, he has "expanded his horizons". I believe I heard him say within the last year or so that his new favorite country is India.

I would guess that for his tour company and his guidebooks that he doesn't care to expand his business further. Covering other continents likely means an increase in office space and staff.

Rick's guidebooks mostly cover countries/regions where he has tours, which happen to be in Europe.

I get it. But it would be very interesting to see him publish guidebooks for countries outside of Europe.

He actually travels all over the world. I believe that he is on record as saying that his favourite country to travel to is India. As for why he doesn't write guidebooks for other places, I think he takes great pride in his guidebooks, and I agree that they are the best of the lot, and he probably doesn't want to stretch himself and his staff thin with the result being that they put out an inferior product. In other words, better to be an expert in one thing than know a little about many things.

Surprised that he considers Turkey part of Europe. Some people i've talked to said they don't consider Turkey to be a European (I do personally).

I would guess it is a matter of brand, expertise, and experience. His brand is European travel. His travel expertise and experience involve Europe. His network of contacts is in Europe.

And his market is Americans traveling abroad. I would speculate--I do not have the numbers--that an exponentially greater number of Americans traveling overseas (excluding Canada) visit Europe compared to the number visiting Asia, South America, Australia, or Africa.

Don't forget Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia

..any particular reason why Rick only does countries and territories across Europe...

Perhaps he believes (from a business point of view) that "If it isn't broken, don't fix it".

Although it's a totally different field, I can't count the number of successful restaurants that have changed what they were doing very well, just to try something new, and went out of business.

Just an observation.

Back in the 1980's, Rick actually published "Asia Through the Back Door" but decided to focus his work in Europe.

Most of those other guidebooks lines rely on numerous people to write the guidebooks. Rick, I believe, wanted to have more control so he limited himself to Europe.

Asia through the backdoor. That's interesting to hear.

this article offers some insight into his business philosophy. I suspect he simply has enough on his plate and has decided to focus on the one thing he knows best: https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2024/04/29/rick-steves-home-partner-philanthropy-washington/

He also travels extensively outside Europe and has a page dedicated to more information on that topic https://www.ricksteves.com/about-rick/travels-beyond-europe

Rick I clearly cares deeply about European art, history, and culture. And wants to share his interests and knowledge with others through his tours and guidebooks.

If he wants to limit his business to what he knows best, what is wrong with that?

RS has traveled and researched all of the places he writes about and has tours. He has spent countless time and money doing so. For OP I see it as an opportunity for OP to apply himself to the same approach to other countries of the world he may want to see. Then he can start a guidebook empire.

Welcome to the forum, James (Demitri). I often wish there were Rick Steves guidebooks for other locations too since I'm so used to how detailed they are. Have you tried Rough Guides? Though I don't like them as much as RS, they are much much better than some of the others, like Lonely Planet.

Why no I haven't Mary. But I have heard of Rough Guides. Monocle Guides are another good one.

Lonely Planet isn't what it used to be. Very little substance now. It's sad as I used to love them.

Mary how did lonely planet used to be?

And what do you like about the Monocle guides?

They don’t seem to cover Palau either, just big cities—- London, Singapore, Sydney, Milan, etc. Nothing off the beaten path.

Personally, I choose the location and then look for guidebooks.

Does this post and vague responses seem a little off to people?

Not at all Jules.

Sasha i never said Monocle guides covers Palau. I said Fodor's Travel and Lonely Planet does. And Monocle covers Non-European places (2 of those cities you mentioned are Not European)

The market has to be there first, before guidebooks can be cost-effective to publish. I would expect the RS target demographic (middle class curious Americans) is a lot less likely to seek independent travel guidance outside Europe. Not that it's not there, just not a big enough market to invest the time and research into developing and supporting guides in the style of his Europe guides.

I have one of those Asia through the Back Door guides from the early '90s and, being authored by someone else, did not have the same appeal or confidence.

Jules, yes it does. Especially the vagueness and the random, unexplained, and positive references to the Monacle guides. I took a look at the website and it is paid subscription. Draw your own conclusions.

James, I'm wondering why you are asking us to give you reasons for Rick Steves' business decisions. Have you thought about emailing the company and asking them?

James, I do not know the answer to your query but I have an opinion. As mentioned above, Rick seems to have made a decision to have a singular focus on the one continent that his clients tend to go travelling throughout - and that wazzam (was and still is) Europe. I've always found his choice to have been an interesting one.

Quasi-related:
I once contacted the RS office about a long-forgotten matter. While exchanging emails with a staffer about that, I snuck in an additional question: did Rick & staff ever keep certain locations out of their guidebooks and videos in order to avoid a potential repeat of the Cinque-Terre effect? The answer that I received then from staff was an unequivocable 'YES.'
FF a year later and I'm part of a discussion on a thread here on this same RS forum. As part of my post, I referenced that above fact. A female RS staffer immediately came to join the chat and basically called me a liar. That remark felt unseemly because I had been telling the truth. I even offered to send her the link i.e. the original email exchange between her colleague and myself.

Having for years promoted the RS brand among all the other guidebooks in many of my published travel articles (local newspapers; a Brit mag), her false accusation felt particularly wrong.
I am done. the lonelier planet

Europe is his niche. It is where he has his contacts, it is what he knows, it is what he is best known for, and it is what his audience is most interested in.