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Lonely Planet online gets lots of company
In more evidence of the influence of the internet, consider this:
Lonely Planet launched its Haystack online booking service just before Christmas with 390 properties listed. Six weeks later: there are more than 1000.
“It’s a typically fast ramp-up for the travel guide publishers, which is seeing demand for online services soar,” concluded the company.
It says five million people log on to the Lonely Planet website each month.
Its Thorntree online forum has 300,000 registered members. It also hosts a classifieds site where travelers can sell anything from a backpack to a Kombi van, while the “Bluelist” records its clients’ experiences and recommendations.
“The challenge for companies in the sector, including Lonely Planet, isn’t creating demand for online services – it’s developing the robust back-end systems to support the interaction,” says Lonely Planet.
Technology operations manager Peter Leslie said the company’s “legacy website” had been struggling to cope with the load.
Report by David Wilkening
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