subject: When Traveling, Is A Tour Guide More Useful Than A Traditional Guidebook by:Chief Exploring Officer [print this page] There have been many articles on this hot travel topic over the years. One such article is "Battle of the Orient: guidebook vs. tour guide", where a British born travel writer compared the enjoyment of using a Lonely Planet guidebook vs. a professional tour guide booked on a pioneering new internet startup - OurExplorer . The city in question was the magical Istanbul - Turkey.
When summarizing the experience of having a tour guide, Mr. Rutherford states - "A thousand guidebook words couldn't convey her emotion."
So why does Lonely Planet seem to continually lose market share in the way travelers wish to learn about a new city they visit? It was a young brand run by travelers for travelers. It was kind of cool, before travel tools and information made a fast entry into the market.
In its 1980s/1990s heyday, the world was a much simpler place and so was Lonely Planet's business - travel guide books, originally for young backpackers but ultimately for everyone, which is maybe where its issues began. Somewhere along the way it lost touch with the zeitgeist and it's been playing catch up ever since.
"Travelers wish to see the world through the eyes of a local and enjoy a unique personalized experience when overseas" Dave Cunningham, Chief Exploring Officer - OurExplorer.
Shall dynamic and forward thinking travel websites like the tour guide portal OurExplorer really push Lonely Planet into the history books and out of guidebooks? With the continuing growth of online travel, it certainly seems so.
About the author
Dave Cunningham is author of this article on tour guide.
