I got see RS talk in person last weekend at the LA Travel Expo. After so many years and so many videos, and YouTube talks it was like seeing a rock star.
Although I generally agree with RS's political views, I did not feel that the message really resonated though. Although he said it was the first time he had given that talk, it felt like I have heard it all before. And it dawned on me that I had fairly little in common with most of the other attendees, who were not as sophisticated or adventurous as I would have expected, and probably even further removed from RS's commentary. Similarly, the RS booth was barebones, and just selling tours, and surprisingly underwhelming.
It was kind of sad, because I have made RS my main resource for travel for decades. I realize that RS has done his duty and deserves his own retirement. But it would be nice to see the business handed off to a new energetic crew to form a "RS : The Next Generation" with some accompanying fresh ideas, and more appeal to new generations of travelers.
I know many of the books are already written or ghost-written by auxiliari (local experts). But none of them seem to be outstanding. Indeed, the book on Sicily seems to be a half-baked effort that was phoned in. Other books - if not most - seem to be written once, and reheated in the microwave many times. To make a comparison to a computer program or operating system, there are no new features only bug fixes. From a marketing point of view, what motivation is there for anyone to buy a new edition of an old book, if there are no new bells and whistles? And meanwhile the competition has been improving by leaps and bounds. At the very, very least, it's time for color diagrams and more photos - something that all the competition does for many years - and they are able to sell their fresher books at similar prices.
RS talks of ethical travel, but in all honesty, his books have funneled tourist into certain over-crowded hotspots while ignoring others. I have visited various places a decade or two apart, and many of the most famous places are unpleasant rat races. Meanwhile, there are many cute communities which are off the tourist map, but wouldn't it be nice to throw some tourist $ to these little towns that have their young people leaving to go to the capitol cities, and also make for a more memorable experience to meet some real locals, rather than haughty waiters in the big places?
I would suggest recruiting some energetic engaging go-getters to put a new face on the company. The internet is full of commoners who put out some pretty professional videos - indeed, certain YT channels have become my first reference when researching a company. Although RS does Itineraries, it's being done better, car trips versus train trips, more variety and flexibility, etc. One of the things I liked the most about RS's approach of giving accurate actionable info, is now lacking. There are dozens of real life travel skills and methodologies which have evolved at light speed. Frommer's talk at the same event was jam packed with them.
Its seems RS Inc has devolved into a tour business which sells some old books. But even the tours could be jazzed up significantly. Again there are regular civilian plebeians who have their own website, and offer a week in France with visits to art studios, bakeries, and an immersive week of French. Or wine tours, or niche tours of various sorts.
RS was a fine maker of ox carts, but everyone is driving cars now.