MELBOURNE – Travel guidebook publisher Lonely Planet – which is majority-owned by the BBC’s commercial enterprise BBC Worldwide – has cut up to 50 positions as the demand for guidebooks diminishes in response to the global economic downturn.
The Age newspaper said the cuts will affect staff in Australia, the US and Britain. Before the cuts the company said it had 500 people on its payroll.
The retrenchments are “directly related to the economic downturn because we’re a global company,” spokesman Adam Bennett said.
“It represents the decline of the guidebook market in tough times.”
Bennett said the US and Britain, both of which are struggling with recession, represented a combined total of 60 percent of guidebook sales.
Lonely Planet, said it was consulting with employees, some of whom were not having their contracts renewed, while others were having their positions eliminated.
Acting chief executive Stephen Palmer said in a statement that the global market for travel was not expected to pick up soon.
“Even the most optimistic forecasts do not predict any sustained recovery until 2010 at the earliest, and even then it is likely to be slow and patchy,” Palmer said.
“It has become clear that this economic situation is unprecedented, it will not just be a blip and we need to adjust our costs so we can manage through these tough times.”
