Lonely Planet looks for new China partner; considers free model to capture market share

Lonely Planet, one of the most popular travel book series in the world, mulls offering its Chinese digital contents free of charge in a bid to firmly grasp the business opportunities in the world’s most rapidly developing tourism market.

As a leading travel book publisher particularly for outbound tourism, Lonely Planet in 2011 decided that it will slightly shift its business emphasis in China to begin accelerating the growth opportunities that it has seen in the market …

After its existing licensing agreement with its former partner on the mainland ended last year, the company has been looking for new partners to broaden its business channels in the country, Dorment said, adding that an announcement of its new partner is expected to be made within a short period.