Lonely Planet outlines its plans to go digital
August 31, 2009
Matt Goldberg, CEO of Lonely Planet has outlined plans for the travel guides to become more in tune with the digital age.
The company that was started 36 years ago on a typewriter is now owned mostly by the BBC. It is due to sell its 100 millionth travel guide sometime next month, but with sales of travel guides down by 18% across Australia, America and the UK it is looking to tap into new markets.
“We’ve expanded our aperture [to become] a platform for travel media and services around the world,” said Goldberg.
He went on to outline the three ways in which he saw the company expanding into a market that is worth in the region of $86 billion.
Firstly he wants to tap into the market of older travelers. Although not wishing to move away from the younger adventuring back-packer market, he wants to appeal to those who may now be traveling with children but who are still adventurers at heart.
He said that secondly he wants to refresh the magazine and books part of the business by integrating it with more digital platforms.
The last step in the plan is to expand digital revenues and expand into the American market through television. Lonely Planet is also beginning to focus on markets like the iPhone for which it says it has already sold 500,000 city guides and phrasebooks.
Goldberg is cautious however and says that he is still “a believer in the book. It’s mobile, it’s lightweight and the battery never runs out.”
Thanks to www.ft.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.
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