Business Insider Article on Lonely Planet Guidebooks

NYC Librarian, I do agree with you about guidebooks. That's why I prefer the ones from here, or Rough Guides or Bradts.

FYI, the link to the article has a paywall, so it's not accessible.

Sorry for the paywall, Mardee! I was able to read it freely, so I thought it would work. Maybe this link will work?

That second link worked for me, and thank you very much for the enlightening article. I’ve sensed that the latest Lonely Planet guidebooks were different, but this helps explain how and why that’s happening. A couple of notable things from the article:

Pauline Frommer, the editorial director of the Frommers guidebook brand, says. "There has been a certain segment of the population turning back to the traditional sources because there's been this insane flood of crap on the internet."

Rick Steves’ books are still providing the useful content they’ve always had, in the same format. His books have gotten thicker, as more destinations and details get added, not less, like Lonely Planet. He’s got more pictures than 20 years ago, but they’re still limited, and his are not photo brochures. And having a company that operates tours and sells travel merchandise, not just printing guidebooks, lets him profit from that diversification.

a lot of people are recognizing that a lot of what they read online is simply disguised marketing

Businesses need to produce income to stay in business. But stealth marketing is ultimately a losing business model, at least for travelers who want more than simply recreating an Instagram photo they’ve seen, taking theirs at the same place as the original, and striking the same pose. If that’s a bucket list item, it seems the bucket is a garbage pail.

Times have gotten tough for Lonely Planet. But they’re suffering, as are readers who rely on them for useful travel information. The maps in the newest editions are particularly useless, missing key cities, sights, and often some of the limited lodging and eating recommendations that are mentioned in nearby pages. And the map scale is also a problem, zoomed in too close or zoomed out so far as to be unhelpful for planning or for getting around.

“TrovaTrip, which enlists influencers as tour guides to paying travelers selected from their audiences.”

Wow Rick Steve’s competition. This is a new low in travel.

In addition to RS books, Michelin green guidebooks, still has great information but no glossy photos or info on public transportation since it was founded by a tire company. I just bought the Provence book even though I live only two hours away.

RS sells Lonely Planet guidebook.

I was thinking about that Frommer quote that Cyn added in her comment. By coincidence I picked up the latest Frommer's London book from the library recently and I was very impressed. My first impression was that it's a nicer looking version of the RS guidebooks with some rock solid practical information that I could previously only find in the RS books.

I agree with the Frommer quote that there is too much crap online. Just this morning I was reading an article about alternatives to the blockbuster sites in France, but as I went through it it reminded me of a post a few months ago from someone that had had a conversation with someone at a party that was a travel blogger but was writing about places they'd never been.

I'm with you Allan. I mean, I look at stuff online, but I still want a good (RS!) guidebook. I want to be able to read about the big picture and see maps of how everything fits together, and then dive down deeper into certain sections.

Thanks for sharing NYC Librarian.

Thank you NYC Librarian for the link and head's up. Interesting article.

I had to laugh though that the "influencer" who's turned from food to travel had never heard of Lonely Planet Guidebooks. Yeesh....I hope I still have a few good travel years left!!

Very interesting article. I haven't bought an actual guidebook in years, just kind of recycle through them with my Kindle Unlimited subscription. But Lonely Planet is one of my usual go-tos. I came across recent LP editions and thought they were majorly lacking compared to earlier. Now I know why.

I'm glad to see that Elizabeth was able to get a recent Green Guide. I had thought that they had stopped publishing. I looked at getting one for Netherlands just a couple of weeks ago but Amazon was only carrying a very few very old used Green Guides for anywhere....

Hope I can find what I'm looking for.

Thanks, NYC LIbrarian! The second link worked for me! Very interesting (and sort of sad) article. As I mentioned above, I do think there are still some good guidebooks out there like Rough Guides, Bradt Travel Guides (which focus on really out-of-the way places) and Rick Steves of course.

I've gotten some Frommer's books from Libby and found them helpful but I usually turn to Rough Guides (and Bradt, depending on the destination). And I like Rick Steves' books, but they are much more curated than others, so if your destinations are way off the beaten path, you probably won't find them in his book.

With regards to Lonely Planet, I would borrow them from Libby or Amazon when I had a free Kindle Unlimited subscription, but eventually realized that I wasn't getting anything useful out of them, so I finally quit that.

Used to be, information on these subjects was more valuable. Thus the guidebooks.

Now, as Rick says, the Internet makes travel much more convenient. As well as making the information that is necessary to do it, cheap/free. Thus the effect(s) you see.

corollary:

As the information becomes cheap/free

=> flood of misinformation mixed in because that is cheap to do (ex: Travel writer that never been to what they reviewed)

=> curated sources like Rick's (or others) become valuable for that reliability rather than just the needed travel information. Though that's still there.

Interesting discussion. I love the RS guides, they cover his tour routes very well. I like the older LP books, since they cover many areas not in the RS guides. Like Sardinia or Torino in Italy. Will look at the Rough Guides. Prefer paper versions.

I still miss the old Access guides. I have never found their equal.

Going to Poland on 3 major trips in the early years of the 21st century, I relied on "Rough Guide " and "Lonely Planet."

I've had a recent experience of traveling with an outdoor adventure group and the trail conditions were completely different than the pictures on the tour website and in the leader emails. After the trip they asked us to send photos. The one I sent of me wearing a hardhat while hiking through a rock landslide while covered with mud didn't make the cut.

Hel-low. I am Aaron the AI travel expert guide entity. What's that you say? You want to travel to Italy? Well, let's go (sound of fanfare)!
Italy has a great many things. All of them are Italian.
There's pizza and pasta and statues and everything plus...

(the real me)
Hi folks,
What follows is lengthy. First, a tidbit for this guidebook discussion. Visitors to Toronto may want to visit our excellent six-story Reference library downtown. Part of the second floor is the Travel department, which has pretty much every single guidebook in existence (by country), even some of those outstanding Gallimard titles from France. Specialty titles are also in that collection. Adjoined is a world-class Maps Room. The Rare Books room on another level also has a whole slew of red, turn-of-the-century Baedekers guidebooks.

As for LP, two remarks. Firstly, just an update regarding its once-vaunted Thorn Tree forum. TT has been resurrected over on reddit, re-started by a handful of old, high-profile posters who now tolerate exactly zero trolling.

Secondly, unless my wife and I were mistaken, one of the new modern-era LP owners (the American tech billionaire) was the asshole who once deliberately buzzed us with his private plane as we were innocently cuddling in the waters off the beach near Costa Rica's Pto Jiminez. The small plane that he was apparently piloting then had been transferring guests onto the beach's more private southerly area for his big private New Years Eve party back in 2008. Not cool.

Btw, RS and family were also at that very moment staying there at the eco-lodge next to our own.

Lastly, travel readers may want to check out Hilary Bradt of Bradt Guides fame's new memoir 'Taking the Risk'. It addresses her dual ventures of Travel plus setting up a publishing firm. One observation: her description of the remote Peruvian village of Paucartambo's wacky annual fest is well nigh perfect.

I am done. The end.

Thank you NYC Librarian! Interesting article.
Without a doubt, the Lonely Planet guidebooks are not what they used to be!

I agree with Mardee.....When purchasing a new guidebook, I look to the Rick Steves guidebooks, Rough Guides or Bradts.
Absolutely the best, in my humble opinion.

Don't rule out older guidebooks. I have a Rough Guide to England printed in 2004. It's an excellent book! with great detailed maps of every region. It has a photo of Bodiam Castle on the cover and a quote from Bill Bryson (who knows a thing or two about books): "Rough Guides are consistently readable, informed and most crucially, reliable."

I have some Lonely Planet books which are--fortunately--older books, so are still in that time period when they were most excellent. The one I'm looking at now is a guide to The Lake District, pub date 2009.

DK/Eyewitness books are excellent. I'm currently reading England's South Coast, a DK/Eyewitness guidebook. (2023) This one was purchased at a "Friends Of The Library" sale for about 1/5 of what it would cost at a bookstore.

I have a Frommer's London (2009) and Frommer's England (2006) which have good information and maps.

A Michelin Green Guide to London (2018) which is in like-new condition and a great guide.

Bradt produces great guidebooks.....excellent guides by region. Right now I'm reading their Cotswolds book which includes Bath, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Oxford. Next I'll be reading their guide to Yorkshire, then their guide to Norfolk and Suffolk. On order is Britain From The Rails; A Window Gazer's Guide.

Time Out puts out guidebooks...or use to....the ones I'm looking at on my desk are Time Out; Norfolk and Suffolk (2010), Seaside Britain, Camping In Britain, 1000 Things To Do In Britain.

The "Let's Go" series of books was put out by St. Martin's Press. Their Let's Go London book (2008) is thorough, with good maps, geared more for young people (college age to early 20's) on their first visit.

Reading older books is not for everyone. Obviously, you must check out restaurants and hotels doing a Google search to see if they're still in business.....we all know that.....but you're probably going to be doing that anyway, whether you're using an older book or a brand new one.

I highly recommend checking out Ebay or used bookstores for older editions of travel guidebooks. Many are in like-new condition. The older books are not full of Instagram photos and little content like some new books being produced today.
One of the most enjoyable things to me is to spend an afternoon browsing in a used bookstore.

Don't miss your local library's annual "Friends Of The Library" sale. Great deals on used guidebooks that have been pulled from their shelves to make room for the newest editions.

Thanks, NYC Librarian. Interesting article. Lonely Planet used to be my second favorite travel book creator after Rick Steves. In the last few years, I noticed they have become almost useless. Now I have a better picture of what the heck happened.

Of course I use the internet, but my favorite trip planning strategy is to start with a good guidebook. My second favorite strategy is to follow this forum. : )