The Future Of Guidebooks?

By Tim Patterson  |  Location: United States  |  04/18/08

A few days ago I did an interview with Kelley Whalen, a student in Scotland who is getting her masters degree in publishing studies.  Kelley and I talked about the future of travel guidebooks, and she kindly gave me permission to reprint our conversation here:

1) As a travel journalist, how do you think travel guides have changed the way people travel?


Travel guides give people the confidence to travel independently, without a tour guide, even in countries where they don't speak the language or fully understand the local culture. 

Instead of signing up for an organized trip with a tour company, travelers can pick up a guidebook at their local bookstore and design their own trip, or simply plan on the fly after arriving at their destination, using the guidebook to get around.

Ironically, even though guidebooks get people off tour buses, they don't always get them off the tourist trail.  Experienced travelers use guidebooks as a start point, to orientate themselves and get a sense of the scene, but don't rely on specific listings for restaurants and accommodation. 


 

2) With such a wide array of travel guides available, do you ever question their reliability?


You know that old saw about the sausage factory?  How after seeing sausages being made, you'll never eat one again? 

I feel the same way about travel guides.  After working for a major travel guide company, I'll always approach travel guides with a healthy degree of skepticism. 

It's not the wide array of travel guides that makes me question their reliability.  It's the simple fact that these days the people writing the guides aren't experts on the destination, and don't have the time or resources to do a thorough job. 

Plus, because facts on the ground evolve so quickly, much of the information in even the most exhaustively researched travel guide will be out of date by the time it hits bookstore shelves.

 

3) How do you feel travel blogs and websites have impacted published travel guides?


The rise of online travel media has put a lot of pressure on published travel guides for 3 main reasons.  First, the information on travel blogs and websites is often more current than information in guidebooks.  Second, online information is almost always available for free. Third, there's often an interactive component to online information that guidebooks just can't match. 

The website I work for, MatadorTravel.com, is built on the premise that those planning a trip can read a guide and then contact the person who wrote it, maybe even meeting up in real life. 

The major guidebook companies are scrambling to develop online content, with mixed success so far - their biggest problem is trying to make a profit selling information that people can obtain for free.  I bet we see a lot more advertising in guidebooks in future years as the publishers struggle to develop alternative revenue streams.

 

4) What is the biggest challenge facing the current guidebook industry?


The biggest challenge for the guidebook industry is figuring out how to maintain the quality of their product while profit margins shrink.  It's almost impossible for professional writers to make a living writing guidebooks, and so the companies are often obliged to rely on inexperienced writers who have little incentive to do a good job.  Witness the Thomas Kohnstamm hullabaloo.

 

5) As the internet continues to play a larger role in all aspects of the consumer market, how do you see it affecting the travel guide industry in the long term?

Long term, I think the industry will have to rely on advertising to make money.  A Lonely Planet exec. recently said that the company's biggest competitor was Google, and I think that assessment is spot on.  Google makes its money by targeting advertisements to consumers based on what they search for, and as Internet access becomes more and more ubiquitous, travelers may navigate by cellphone instead of using a print guidebook. 

If I'm looking for a restaurant in Siem Reap in 2 years, for instance, I'll just pull out my phone and do a quick Internet search.  If the Lonely Planet recommendations pop onto my screen - great - but I'm not going to pay for them when I can get free results just as easily.  The only way to fill the revenue gap is to incorporate some sort of advertising / affiliate program into the content.

Of course, that's just hypothetical.  If I was actually in Siem Reap looking for a restaurant, I'd probably use my eyes and nose, or ask the locals.  Low tech, but that sort of real-time interactive multi-sensory search function is still the best way to find a good meal, and I don't think that will ever change.
 
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