Tour Kit - Why no e-books???

If I recall correctly, it has something to do with ownership or the publisher and money. Review all the tour paperwork online and the answer is there...again if my memory serves me correctly. So hunt for it. :)

I will also say that it is easier to share a book pre-trip than an ebook...in our house anyway. Solo travel would be a completely different matter regarding book vs ebook.

I'm sure it's about the complexities of "giving away" free copies of electronic books. E-publishing systems have evolved with very strict protections to control (and defeat) "sharing" (aka stealing or pirating). Although I'm confident that it's technically possible to issue some kind of an e-credit for an e-book, doing so would surely be a lot more complicated to set up and manage than simply handing over a printed copy.

Currently Kindle is not offering several Rick Steves books for "file quality" issues. Kindle says they are working on the problem with Steves. But it may be that they can't give you an electronic version at the moment.

Several of the RS tours have books that are not the one you can buy in a book store or find in your library. They are compilations of the relevant sections from other RS books. So instead of giving the tour members the entire set of books in their complete form, there is a compacted version for the tour. This compacted version cannot be issued in e-book format due to copyright restrictions. At least that was the reason I was given by the office and that appears else where in other threads this forum.

Also, the mentioned "quality issues" seems to be a constant issue with the RS books in e format. I used the ebook version on a couple tours I took and the page numbers did not line up with the print version. So when the tour guide said "turn to page 145 and read along .." the e-book page could either several pages before or after the one in the print book. The hand drawn maps that often appear in the RS printed books also for some reason do not seem to be all that easy to view in the e-book versions I have used.

But I do agree, this is the 21st century, make the e-book an option!

When I travel, I only "pack" Kindle versions of Rick Steves. I don't go on Rick's tours, however, so I don't pay much attention to what they give you. I'd still choose to pay a little and travel with only an e-book. It's worth it, for me, to lose a pound or two in your bag.

Our office is aware that some tour members would prefer ebooks, however, this is not currently possible due to publishing rights. Amazon exclusively produces and markets the Kindle editions, and Barnes and Noble the Nook versions, etc., according to my understanding. For a short time, our publisher tried another e-platform that allowed us to handle them ourselves, but that wasn't technically a very good or successful system. Also, so far in the 21st century, the large majority of customers still buy paper travel guidebooks.

Is it possible for RS to issue an Amazon or Barnes and Noble discount "code" or gift card that only allows purchasing Rick Steves books or ebooks from these online retailers?

No, please see the answer above by RS Laura.
Obviously private business matters are involved here but in theory there is a substantial cost difference between the 2 (paper vs e). RS owns copy-write. He has even has paper copies printed. Thus his actual cost in sending out a paper book out is very very small. For an ebook he could waive “profit” like he does with a paper book but he would have to pay Amazon/Barnes and Nobles for their cut of the sale, which he can’t waive, which is a much higher number then the cost in having the paper version printed. My explanation is over simplified but understand there are sound financial reasons behind such decisions.

The same reason RS gives you credit for store purchases and not a cash discount. There is a huge difference between the two. A $50 cash discount costs RS $50. A $50 store credit costs RS substantially less. It is not a dollar for dollar trade off.

Thanks for your reply onefastbob but it wasn't the information I was looking for.

I read Laura's post from the Rick Steves (RS) organization before I posted my question so I didn't need to read it again. I am also well aware of the cost, wholesale and retail costs when a business sells a product.

I have been on 3 RS tours, during when he offered a $100 credit to purchase RS items, and at this point I don't really need any more RS items.

If I forfeited getting the paper book, money belt and ear plugs when i ordered the tour kit, it would be nice to have the choice to get the ebook version instead.

Doing a search recently, I found that Amazon allows you to send ebooks as a gift to multiple people, do a search for "Distribute Kindle Books to Others" for the details. If you have a large group you want to send an ebook to as a gift, you can submit a spreadsheet with all the recipient's email addresses. Barnes and Noble may have a similar capability.

The only caveat would be Laura's point, if RS agreement with Amazon/Barnes n Noble or with his publisher Avalon Travel forbids RS from buying their own ebooks and giving them away as gifts to others.

Now of course the RS organization may not want to bear the additional cost to send these ebooks as gifts, or they may feel the paper book is better for the majority of their customers, or maybe it is a better marketing tool seeing people all over Europe reading the RS guide book. Maybe they are focusing their efforts keeping 30,000 + customers happy while on tours in Europe.
Not an easy job these days given the latest virus craziness.

At the end of the day, it is not a big deal, I guess some people just want to have the choice between the paper book and the ebook when they buy a RS tour. Just my $0.02, your mileage may vary.

If RS customers can spend thousands of dollars on a tour, spending another $18 for an ebook isn't going to break the bank. It is nice that almost 9 years ago the ebook versions became available.

https://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/shocking-news-rick-steves-guidebooks-are-electronic-2/

I purchased the "Best of Spain" ebook while on the "My way Spain" tour in 2018 because I didn't like dragging the book around while exploring the cities.

I have enjoyed using his Audio tours in several cities, keep up the good work RS!
Thanks for listening to my rant....
Keep on Traveling!
Scott