Sharing the world: Lonely Planet hits 100 million guidebooks and counting

Lonely Planet, a 37 year old leading publisher of travel guidebooks, has just officially published its 100 millionth guidebook (Australia). To celebrate, the popular go-to for globetrotters is inviting travelers to share photographs of their favorite travel experiences online.

Beginning on January 29th, travelers can upload their favorite travel images to lonelyplanet.com/win for the chance to win a round-the-world trip for two or one of 200 Nokia handsets.

According to Lonely Planet co-founder, Tony Wheeler, shared travel experiences are at the heart of everything Lonely Planet does.

“And this is why we decided to reach out to our travel community with a competition to build the world’s largest online mosaic of travel images to support us having published 100 million guidebooks,” said Wheeler. “Pictures are a wonderful way to tell a story. They can celebrate memories of travel and capture the essence of our experiences. Over the years, Maureen and I have taken thousands of pictures around the world, and they’re an important part of our travel history.

“I’m delighted and amazed that we’ve published 100 million books, but the real cause for celebration is the hundreds of millions of shared travel stories experienced by Lonely Planet travelers. Sharing those stories is something we’ve been encouraging for decades.”

The company’s first book, printed in 1973, took 26 years until 1999 to reach 30 million copies in print. Five years later in 2004, 60 million books had been printed.

Opportunity for reflection

Lonely Planet CEO Matt Goldberg said the milestone of publishing 100 million books was an opportunity to reflect on how the company has evolved as a multi-media travel publisher.

“Lonely Planet serves an amazing global community of like-minded travel enthusiasts who, not only buy our books, but also enjoy accessing travel content, information, and services online and wirelessly, as well as through TV and magazines,” said Goldberg. “This milestone is not about us; it’s about you. We would never have reached our 100 millionth publication without the goodwill of a loyal travel community who have enthusiastically shared their experiences with Lonely Planet out of the pure joy of travel and to help all travelers on their next journey.

“We hope everyone enjoys sharing their favorite travel images in our effort to build the world’s largest online mosaic of travel photography.”

Experience-sharing for everyone

You don’t have to be a professional photographer to enter the contest. Entries will be judged on how your story – a combination of an image and a caption – captures the adventurous free spirit of Lonely Planet and getting to the heart of a place.

“We invited feedback in our very first books,” added Wheeler, “and soon began to include the useful warning that ‘Things change – prices go up, good places go bad, bad places go bankrupt – so if you find things better or worse, recently opened or long ago closed, please write and tell us’. Our travelers have taken that statement seriously, from the very beginning we’ve been supported by thousands of travelers who have written invaluable letters about their experiences.

In 1981, Lonely Planet began its campaign of “user generated content” with its quarterly newsletter incorporating information from Lonely Planet travelers and writers out on the road. it eventually evolved into an online forum, The Thorntree, in 1996. Today, there are almost three quarters of a million Thorntree users worldwide.