Lonely Planet re-launches after 30 years
The guide book publishers have taken something of a gamble by catering each series of book to what they perceive to be its target market. For example, Regional Guides are aimed at families on road trips and feature fold-out road maps, the ‘Best Of City’ guides are for short-breakers who are rich in funds but poor in time, and ‘Shoestrings’ are designed to “hold the hands of novice travellers looking for big adventure on a small budget”. The standard guidebooks will still cater for all types of traveller, with low budget and luxury options, but a focus on mid-range budgets. A spokeswoman for Lonely Planet told TravelMole: “We have made an effort to differentiate between the different series so that city guides aren’t just a snippet of standard guides, they cater for a different traveller and are written by people who live in the city and know it like the back of their hand.” She said the decision to relaunch followed extensive research into travel behaviour in the UK, Germany, USA and Australia. She added: “We moved away from a focus on budget backpackers some time ago, but we still have that image.” She added that a survey undertaken by Lonely Planet found that the majority of independent travellers were now between 25 and 34 and travelled on a mid-range rather than low-range budget. Before the end of March, 37 new editions will be released featuring a new cover and added content including more maps and help with forming itineraries. The spokeswoman said that most of the new editions were the biggest selling books like London, Australia, and Italy.
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