Lonely Planet…
…in a world of user-generated content
Eye for Travel
March 07
Background on Lonely Planet
World’s leading independent travel publisher
34 year history – just published 80 millionth book
Inspired millions to travel the world
Largest markets – UK, Europe, USA, Australia
Fastest growing markets – Asia
500 staff in Australia, USA, UK
Partnerships with 16 foreign language licensees
Strategic partnerships in 7 key foreign language markets
Travel guides, web, TV, B2B, mobile
publish nearly 600 guides
Digital initiative focus for 07/08
Our Vision
“Whatever I need, whenever I need it, in whatever language I speak, the
Lonely Planet website gives me access to content and community as rich and
diverse as the world I want to explore"
Web 2.0: “We intend to return the web to its original owners, the users”
Trends we’ve been watching…
Content – many convergent trends, one outcome. Print to digital.
Business information completing journey, newspapers still struggling
Travel distributors shift into user generated content, from supplier generated
Rich media like images, videos, pod casts easier to create and share
New collaboration methods – blogs, RSS, Wikipedia,
Does quality matter anymore? Eg. Wikipedia’s recent “experts” initiative
Communities – the global village is a hive of fractious & focused interest groups.
Theme based communities (eg photos) and themes within themes (photos
of pets)
Find, connect, share, brag. Why? Because you can.
Is there a blinkered community effect – what happens to serendipity when
you preach to the converted?
Some trends we’ve been watching…
Content outputs – Technology is allowing digital to print models to work also.
Scrapbooking/self publishing – Photoworks, Kodak etc
Blogs, trip diaries, books, music, videos – starting from digital, making it to
print or hard copies if good enough (NY times, Blurb, Current TV etc)
Booksurge – Amazon taking it to the next level. Is inventory dead?
Will all content start this way in future? If its low cost, possible to check
quality and assess popularity (ie market test) then why not?
Web 2.0 – a term to describe a phenomena – convergence of trends and technology
Societal trends (inc. broadband penetration, wireless, firmer browser
standards, accessibility standards, inc. internet savviness, societal
acceptance (not just geeks), improvements in the “planned” internet
Tech trends – been around for a while, but now because of the above
actually work. Ajax, RSS, mash ups, flash, standard API’s, blogs, wiki
An implementation, not a strategy. It makes web applications run more like
desktop applications – not a substitute for a sounds business.
What does this all mean for Lonely Planet…
Threats – does anyone read books anymore?
The importance of content has been realised - from tourism bureau free
guides at airports to travel communities generation their own content. What
does Lonely Planet offer that’s different?
With internet cafes, wireless devices and mobile phones, do people need
guidebooks anymore anyway?
The ease of putting a travel site together and producing significant amounts
of content shifts the competitive landscape significantly.
What’s missing in all this? – its new but is it better?
Quality and trust. Millions of blogs, but how many get read? Do you really
trust the content in Wikipedia? What happened to balanced and unbiased?
Authored content really is better. Style, tone, the ability to write. All forms of
writing (including travel writing) are more difficult than they appear.
Opinions, filters, and recommendation need a philosophy that unstructured
groups tend to struggle with.
Structure is important. Groups of unrelated stories vs information.
What does this all mean for Lonely Planet…
Merging of great travel minds
Lonely Planet must embrace user generated content. Balance strengths of
author and user content, understand inter-changeability, timeliness, which type
of content suits the source and the reader.
Digital to print
Sourcing content digitally will change processes & assist book production
Faster to market, product trials and testing, content re-use
Can we use traveller generated content in book form?
Format, delivery and application
Books aren’t dead, but new forms of media consumption are growing. This
means Lonely Planet should and will be at the forefront of new ways of getting
our content to the traveller how they want it, when they want it.
New businesses/products
The integration of user generated content opens up new businesses and
products, like Video as show in the “Less then 3” competition
There has been a strong interest in creating online Bluelist product in Asia
languages
Some of Lonely Planet’s new (& old) Ventures
How has Lonely Planet approached Asia
China
www.lonelyplanet.com.cn
online photo competition with eLong.com
Plans underway to launch a fully functional Chinese version of LP.com – content,
community, commerce
Japan
New partnership with MSN Japan launched February 2007
LP-branded pages within MSN's site
MSN and Lonely Planet to collaborate to create other user tools such as BlueList, photo
competitions, online games and other localised content for independent Japanese travellers
Provides inspiration and comprehensive destination content to independent Japanese
travellers wanting more unique and individual travel experiences
Authored content from Lonely Planet will stimulate user-generated reviews
Enhances awareness around Lonely Planet and our Japanese and English-language
products in-market
Other
Licensing our WG digital product to websites in Asia in English as well as local languages
How does this apply to marketing in the travel Industry across all
regions?
Promotion to industry must shift to promotion direct to consumers
This entails a much higher level of understanding of target markets– especially as
they continue to define themselves to a level of specialisation not seen before
Communities/folksonomies will direct trends more than ads – in effect good
communities will advertise for you, so how can you create/foster/build your own
communities/advocates? (See LP examples next slides)
BUT - don’t just focus on creation – really good communities create themselves,
work on fostering/enhancing existing ones, even if on other sites (LP & Boots’n’all)
Learning to market to those communities will become a competitive advantage as
they are much more savvy and sensitive
Suppliers will need to embrace reviews of their products/services. How do you
treat/fix/mitigate a negative review? How do you promote a positive one?
Suppliers should look at creative ways to use Web 2.0 concepts
Understand new media and marketing opportunities – don’t rely on traditional
above the line advertising (SEM, Viral, community, content [blogs], rich media)
Thank you!
www.lonelyplanet.com