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What a guidebook looks like today: It’s not what you think
DigitalWhile working for Lonely Planet for nearly 15 years, I researched guidebooks in Siberia and Transylvania, trained at Mountie boot camp in Saskatchewan, and even shook hands with Al Roker. But the most eye-opening thing I learned along the way was this simple fact about Americans: Almost no one knows what a “guidebook” is. … [...]
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The guidebook industry is suffering, but it’s not dead yet
DigitalIt’s a tale told in gory detail by the numbers. UK sales of international guidebooks have fallen 45% in eight years. Guides covering where to eat or stay have fared worse, down over 60%, says analyst Stephen Mesquita, citing Nielsen BookScan data. Bowker data suggests something even more depressing: only 20% of current buyers are [...]
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Mobile destination apps: Lonely Planet’s cautionary story
DigitalEd’s note: The reporting on this story was done in between our exclusive on LP’s sale and announcement on its sale yesterday. Lonely Planet’s Brice Gosnell is a busy man these days. As Lonely Planet’s vice president of publishing in the Americas, he’s currently reviewing the guidebook brand’s digital publishing strategy, and the economics of [...]
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INTERVIEW: Lonely Planet’s new boss on the future of the travel brand
DigitalEarlier today BBC Worldwide confirmed it would sell the Lonely Planet travel brand to Nashville, TN-based upstart NC2 Media for AUS$75 million. The British public broadcaster’s commercial arm had completed its acquisition of LP in 2011 for more than twice that amount, signaling to many that the future of the travel brand was half what [...]
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Twitter agrees: BBC screwed up its Lonely Planet business
DigitalToday Twitter shook with the official news of BBC selling Lonely Planet to U.S. billionaire Brad Kelley for AUS$75 million (£51.5 million). This is less than the industry followers thought it would sell for when Skift originally broke the story two weeks ago. Now that the numbers are in and BBC’s £80m loss is official, Twitter is confounded [...]
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BBC’s governing body criticizes Lonely Planet sale price for being too low
DigitalThe BBC came under heavy criticism from its own trustees today after selling the Lonely Planet travel guides business to an American billionaire and making a loss of £80 million. The BBC Trust, under chairman Chris Patten, has been trying to trim the commercial arm BBC Worldwide for several months and today said the 2007 [...]
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Lonely Planet assures book authors that print will continue, following sale
DigitalBBC Worldwide, the arm of BBC that just sold off Lonely Planet to NC2 Media, quickly moved to assure LP authors (who are mostly freelancers) in a letter from Marcus Arthur, the MD of Global Brands at BBCW. The letter, in full, below. ——————- This morning we announced that BBC Worldwide is selling Lonely Planet to NC2 [...]
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BBC confirms sale of Lonely Planet to U.S. billionaire
DigitalToday BBC Worldwide officials and representatives of U.S. billionaire Brad Kelley announced the sale of Lonely Planet to a company controlled by Kelley for AUS$75 million (£51.5 million). The announcement confirms Skift’s widely reported scoop from two weeks ago about the sale and the buyer. Staff at Lonely Planet’s Melbourne headquarters was informed of the [...]
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How Lonely Planet is winning the battle on social media
DigitalThick guidebooks covered in stickers and torn in the corners used to be the tell-tale sign of a traveler. Although some tourists still are engrossed with words in print instead of the sites in front of them, many are now also staring at smartphone screens. Besides the obvious opportunity to share content online, the Internet [...]
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Exclusive: BBC selling Lonely Planet to Kentucky cigarette billionaire Brad Kelley
DigitalUPDATE: BBC Worldwide confirms the sale to Lonely Planet EXCLUSIVE: Lonely Planet, the storied travel guidebooks publisher owned by BBC, is about to be sold, we have learned. And the buyer is a doozy: reclusive Kentucky billionaire Brad Kelley, who spent the 1990s selling discount cigarette brands like USA Gold, Bull Durham, and Malibu, then sold the company [...]
