Travel Guides Still Selling Well, Saved by Portability
Posted by Sebastien on the 2008/01/07 at 08:09
in Cannibalization, Directories, Dopplr, Local, Local Search, Social Media, Travel -
This article from the New York Times talks about efforts being made by the travel guide industry to avoid being disrupted by the Internet.
“We want to be in a position where, if the business suddenly collapses in five years, we have a plan — unlike the music industry,” said Martin Dunford, publishing director of Rough Guides, which is part of the Penguin division of the media company Pearson, based in London.
So far, the digital media revolution has been much less turbulent for guidebook publishers than for record companies, which are fighting rampant online copying. Sales of travel guides, while flat in some traditionally stalwart markets like Britain, have been growing strongly in developing countries and in the United States (…).
Travel publishers sold 14.8 million books in the United States last year, up 11 percent from two years ago, according to Nielsen BookScan. Still, guidebook companies may have missed an opportunity on the Internet.