Lonely Planet

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Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet.svg
Parent company Lonely Planet Global, Inc.
Founded1973 [1]
Founders
Country of origin Australia
Headquarters location Fort Mill, South Carolina, U.S.
Distribution
Key people Philippe von Borries (President; November 2020 – May 2023)
Publication types Books
Mobile apps
Video
Magazine
Nonfiction topics Travel guides (Worldwide)
Owner(s) Red Ventures
No. of employees400 staff, 200 authors [3]
Official website lonelyplanet.com
Maureen Wheeler and Tony Wheeler, the two co-founders of Lonely Planet, in 2008 2008TIBE Day4 Hall1 AustraliaPavilion TheWheelers.jpg
Maureen Wheeler and Tony Wheeler, the two co-founders of Lonely Planet, in 2008

Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. [4] Founded in Australia in 1973, [1] the company has printed over 150 million books. [5]

Contents

History

20th century

Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked on an overland trip through Europe and Asia to Australia, following the route of the Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition. [6] [7]

The company name originates from the misheard "lovely planet" in a song written by Matthew Moore. [8] Lonely Planet's first book, Across Asia on the Cheap, [9] had 94 pages; it was written by the couple in their home. [10] The original 1973 print run consisted of stapled booklets [11] with pale blue cardboard covers. [12]

Wheeler returned to Asia to write Across Asia on the Cheap: A Complete Guide to Making the Overland Trip, published in 1975. [13]

The Lonely Planet guide book series initially expanded to cover other countries in Asia, with the India guide book in 1981, [14] and expanded to rest of the world later on. [15] Geoff Crowther was renowned for frequently inserting his opinions into the text of the guides he wrote. His writing was instrumental to the rise of Lonely Planet. The journalist used the term "Geoffness", in tribute to Crowther,[ clarification needed ] to describe a quality that has been lost in travel guides. [10]

By 1999, Lonely Planet had sold 30 million copies of its travel guides. The company's authors consequently benefited from profit-sharing and expensive events were held at the Melbourne office, at which limousines would arrive, filled with Lonely Planet employees. [15]

21st century

The 16th edition of Lonely Planet's Australia guide, published in 2011 Lonely Planet Australia travel guide 16th Edition.png
The 16th edition of Lonely Planet's Australia guide, published in 2011

In 2007, the Wheelers and John Singleton sold a 75% stake in the company to BBC Worldwide, worth an estimated £63 million at the time. [10] The company was publishing 500 titles and ventured into television production. BBC Worldwide struggled following the acquisition, registering a £3.2 million loss in the year to the end of March 2009. By the end of March 2010, profits of £1.9 million had been generated, as digital revenues had risen 37% year-on-year over the preceding 12 months, a Lonely Planet magazine had grown and non-print revenues increased from 9% in 2007 to 22%.

Lonely Planet's digital presence included 140 apps and 8.5 million unique users for lonelyplanet.com, which hosted the Thorn Tree travel forum. [16] In 2011, BBC Worldwide acquired the remaining 25% of the company for £42.1 million (A$67.2 million) from the Wheelers. [17]

BBC's sale to NC2

Lonely Planet's former headquarters in Footscray, Victoria, in 2006 LonelyPlanetBuildingFootscray.jpg
Lonely Planet's former headquarters in Footscray, Victoria, in 2006

By 2012, BBC wanted to divest itself of the company and in March 2013 confirmed the sale of Lonely Planet to Brad Kelley's NC2 Media for US$77.8 million (£51.5 million), at nearly an £80 million (US$118.89 million) loss. [18]

Red Ventures

In December 2020, NC2 Media sold Lonely Planet to Red Ventures for an undisclosed amount. [19] Lonely Planet offices continue to operate in Dublin, Nashville, New Delhi and Beijing. Phillippe von Borries, a former co-founder and CEO of Refinery29, was named head of the company. [20]

In 2022, Lonely Planet bought Elsewhere, a website that links travellers directly with experts who assist in designing trips. [21]

Products

Lonely Planet's online community, the Thorn Tree, [22] was created in 1996. It is named for a Naivasha thorn tree ( Acacia xanthophloea ) that has been used as a message board for the city of Nairobi, Kenya since 1902. [23] The tree still exists in the Stanley Hotel, Nairobi. In April 2020, the forum was locked and left in read-only mode as part of Lonely Planet temporarily halting business in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, the Thorn Tree was shut down. [24]

In 2009, Lonely Planet began publishing a monthly travel magazine called Lonely Planet Traveller. It is available in digital versions for a number of countries. [25]

Lonely Planet also had its own television production company, which has produced series, such as Globe Trekker , Lonely Planet Six Degrees, and Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled. [26] Toby Amies and Asha Gill (both British TV presenters) took part in Lonely Planet Six Degrees.[ citation needed ]

Controversies

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hippie trail</span> Overland journey from Europe to Asia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Wheeler</span> English-Australian publishing entrepreneur (born 1946)

Tony Wheeler is an English-born Australian publishing entrepreneur, businessman and travel writer, co-founder of the Lonely Planet guidebook company with his wife, Maureen Wheeler.

Christopher P. Baker is a professional travel writer and photographer, adventure motorcyclist, tour leader, and Cuba expert, and the 2008 Lowell Thomas Award 'Travel Journalist of the Year.' He is a contributor to magazines and other publications worldwide, and is the author of travel guidebooks for publishers such as Dorling Kindersley, Lonely Planet, Moon Publications, and National Geographic.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maureen Wheeler</span> Northern Irish-Australian publishing entrepreneur

Maureen Wheeler is a Northern Irish and Australian businesswoman, who co-founded the travel publisher Lonely Planet with her husband, Tony Wheeler.

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References

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  2. "Trade". Lonely Planet.
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