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stuart at Travelfish
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8 months ago
in Step Away From the Lonely Planet: A Requiem for Travel Guidebooks on Everything Everywhere
Good story, but to quote Mark Twain, "The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated"...
I'd agree that some people certainly don't need a guidebook and the information is sometimes better online. But I wouldn't agree they're a "vestigial reminder" of an era now passed.
For many, guidebooks are ideal. For those on short trips, those who are not internet savvy (or don't have countless hours to research online), those who crave a more "authorative voice" than what may be found online -- to name a few off the top of my head.
Sure for others, the internet is an ideal medium, and it's the one we're trying to tap into at Travelfish, but the internet is far from the perfect solution. Fraud, advertorial copy and just plain bad information are major issues on many travel websites. Simultaneously, readers often demand/expect more from a website because of the perception that it is all as fresh as the coconut that fell from the tree -- the reality is a good deal more complex, and while you may think that "it really isn’t that hard to get information once you are at a location", rest assured it isn't always quite as easy as you may think!
Each medium has pros and cons and a keen traveller, looking to get the most out of a trip, would be well served to leverage the knowledge out of both.
I'd agree that some people certainly don't need a guidebook and the information is sometimes better online. But I wouldn't agree they're a "vestigial reminder" of an era now passed.
For many, guidebooks are ideal. For those on short trips, those who are not internet savvy (or don't have countless hours to research online), those who crave a more "authorative voice" than what may be found online -- to name a few off the top of my head.
Sure for others, the internet is an ideal medium, and it's the one we're trying to tap into at Travelfish, but the internet is far from the perfect solution. Fraud, advertorial copy and just plain bad information are major issues on many travel websites. Simultaneously, readers often demand/expect more from a website because of the perception that it is all as fresh as the coconut that fell from the tree -- the reality is a good deal more complex, and while you may think that "it really isn’t that hard to get information once you are at a location", rest assured it isn't always quite as easy as you may think!
Each medium has pros and cons and a keen traveller, looking to get the most out of a trip, would be well served to leverage the knowledge out of both.
1 reply
And I do think it is pretty easy to get information on the ground. The bigger the city, the more popular the tourist attraction, the easier it is. The places which require planning are those which are very remote and don't have a tourism infrastructure built. Those are also the places least likely to have guidebooks.