The familiar blue spines of Lonely Planet guides are ubiquitous in the travel sections of bookstores and on the shelves and desks of intrepid travelers. The company has not only printed over 145 million guidebooks covering 95% of the world’s destinations over the past 40-plus years, Lonely Planet has created content in over 14 languages, including everything from magazines and TV shows to children’s books, cookbooks, phrasebooks, maps, web resources, apps, and gift books.
While Lonely Planet makes many digital products, print guidebooks are always at the heart of everything Lonely Planet does. “Guidebooks are not going away,” said Lonely Planet’s product director of guidebooks and e-books, Darren O’Connell. “Despite some declarations to the contrary, traditional print guidebooks are still selling well and there appears to be loyalty to the format. Sales of guidebooks are up for Lonely Planet, and have increased year-over-year significantly for several years.”
Lonely Planet therefore continues to publish a wide array of print books to suit various audiences. “Travelers frequently report to us that they still like the tangible experience of planning for their trip with a book in hand and pages to highlight, dog-ear, or tear out,” O’ Connell continued.
So here’s a quick tour of the world of Lonely Planet, which encompasses guidebooks and much more, including books to be read and re-read even when not planning a trip.
