In the past 30 years or so, the travel media has grown dramatically, worldwide, both mirroring & stimulating, the huge increase in international travel we hav seen since 1970s.
In the recent decades, the 'traditional' type of guidebooks were aimed at the serious cultural & sightseeing tourist - mid-to-upper-market relatively well-educated tourist, probably touring via cars. They focused on historic sites & were largely factual with little or no subjective comments, such as ambiance, nightlife, etc.
These were largely geared to the needs of middle-market travellers but not shoestring budget.
However, the 1960s saw the rise of a new phenomenon of international tourist, independent long-haul travellers on low-budget. - " backpackers". - tend to be younger and took trips with a relatively long duration but low daily expenditure. - they needed information to help them visit places with which they were unfamiliar with. From 1960s onwards a new generation of guidebooks began to develop to meet the needs of these new tourist. Lonely planet was 1 of the first, a pionner, which has since become a 'cornerstone' of the modern travel media.
-The Organization: began in the early 1970s, when 2 adventurous travellers, Tony & Maureen Wheeler, made an epic overland journey from London through Asia to Australia. In the 1973 they published a guide to their journey called "Across Asia on the cheap", & so 'Loney Planet' was formed -the world's leading independent travel publisher.
Mission & Principles of Loney Planet: passionate in bringing people together, about understand our world, & about people sharing experiences that enrich everyone's lives. Aim to inspire pople to explore, have fun & travel often. Strive to provide travellers everywhere with reliable, comprehensive & independent travel information.
Our principles: Travel can be a powerful force for tolerance & understanding. As part of a worldwide community travellers, we want to enable everyone to travel with awareness, respect, and care. The integrity of our information is our strength. We accept no endorsements, advertising, or kickbacks - our authors do not accept payments or favour in return for positive reviews. [Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ International cases in tourism management]
-Lonely planet guidebooks are written by experienced travellers, based on their own travel experiences.
-Accept no advertising & hotels,restaurants, & attractions . Authors do not accept 'freebies' while researching.
-Books contain negative as well as positive comments on places n indivdual buisness.
-Most of the guides are updated every 2 years.