As Lonely Planet lay off staff The Telegraph highlighted rumours that the travel giant would cease commissioning of any more printed content.

(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - August 7th, 2013 - The news last week that Lonely Planet was laying off around eighty members of staff led to a huge outpouring of virtual grief on social networking sites.

As well as people recalling memories of how a guide book has saved their holiday, many people began wondering whether the books themselves would soon be extinct. An article in the Daily Telegraph highlighted rumours that the travel giant would cease commissioning of any more printed content, although the company said these rumours were “categorically untrue”.

Direct Travel Insurance take a look into the claim to see what future is in store for the printed travel guide. But there is no denying that times are changing. Can travel guide books keep up?

AA Publishing last year said it was no longer commissioning printed guides, and The Bookseller, the trade publication, revealed that the travel print category had declined by 41% in the last five years. The fact is that the internet and technology has changed the way we do many things, such as shopping, and e-readers have been growing in popularity.

But despite the undisputed fact that e-readers can be very useful in saving space – particularly for travellers – sales are predicted to fall and there has been some speculation that they may be on their way out completely.

When it comes to reading a novel, many readers agree that the physical feeling of getting through a novel is a crucial part of the novel reading experience: either giving you relief that a rubbish book is nearly over, sadness that you’re coming to the end of a great read or suspense as you’re getting closer to the climax.

But travel guides are different, they are books that are generally dipped in and out of depending on particular location, or what kind of inspiration you’re looking for. But they are occasionally read like a book too – in airport lounges or on the plane, they are a great way of working up excitement about an upcoming trip or holiday.

Mobile phones and smartphones have no doubt become an essential part of life for many people. Ofcom reported in mid-2012 over half of the UK population owned a smartphone, and that number is certain to have grown further since then. 

But owning a smartphone and using it abroad are two different things – many people remain scared of running up excessive costs, and some turn them off altogether as part of their way of relaxing.

Using mobile data remains fairly expensive, so using the Lonely Planet website, or other online guidebooks, is not an option for many travellers. So the rumours that travel guides are dying off seems to be incorrect at this time.

It would seem that readers of the Daily Telegraph agree, too, with 85% of 433 votes in an online poll (at the time of writing) saying that travel guides remain a very useful research tool, and just 6% saying they use travel guides online.

Indeed, the very fact that Lonely Planet’s redundancy programme was met with such tremendous online grief said all we need to know. Human beings can get very attached to things: it’s the reason e-readers haven’t taken off in the way their manufacturers would have hoped, and it’s the reason that travel guides will be a popular read for some time yet, too.

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