BootsnAll Travel Community

(I hope this is the right category for this subject)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7021791.stm

What do you think about this development? Do you think
a) Lonely Planet will stay the same
b) It will get worse
c) It will get better

Express your opinions

Wow, thanks for posting that. Hope the product will get better. Over the last 10 years or so, LP seems to have become more concerned with synergy than with accuracy and good info in their guidebooks. Perhaps being purchased by a news organization will change that.

What exactly is the legal status of BBC? I always assumed it was a not-for-profit corporation partially funded by the government.

It sure doesn't act like a "not for profit" corporation.

Maybe now they will pay their writers fairly and somebody will update the shamefully out-of-date Colombia guidebook.

quote:

Originally posted by static:

Maybe now they will pay their writers fairly and somebody will update the shamefully out-of-date Colombia guidebook.

Sadly, I doubt the purchase will have much effect on the editorial staff and their publishing habits.

I imagine the BBC purchased the Lonely Planet brand for use in their global broadcast syndications. Expect to see any and every program produced by BBC that's remotely oriented towards travel, anthropology, or world cuisine to start carrying the LP logo when it airs abroad. And, of course, it will probably play a large role in the BBC's forthcoming network of web sites.

They probably won't get involved in the way the publications are managed, however.

quote:

Originally posted by jv:

What exactly is the legal status of BBC? I always assumed it was a not-for-profit corporation partially funded by the government.

I believe it has a commercial arm to it which is able to generate income via commercial means. Generally this money will go back into teh BBC in one way or another to keep it running and improve services etc.

I worked for a "Royal" charity that pretty much did the same thing. Commercial ventures to raise money. Its often the case that some form of investment is made beofre return shown with these ventures.

I just saw this on CBC as well. I do wonder if there will be many changes...more current and more accurate would sure be nice.

I was thinking, though - on my last trip, I had two phrasebooks (for different languages, obviously), one put out by LP and the other by the BBC. The LP one was completely useless, while the BBC one was very helpful and well laid out. I imagine that sort of duplication will stop after this purchase, and I sure hope they don't go in favour of the LP setup just because it has more brand power in the travel industry.

Can not say I am happy about yet another Australian product being sold off shore. (no offence to the Brits).

I seriously doubt the guides will get better. I may be cynical, I really, really hope I'm wrong but I think they brought it for the brand name alone. They will flog the cr*p out of it and most if not all profits will be diverted into the BBC not into the guides, improving them or for travel.

Still may be the BBC is better than any of the TV stations here, that is seriously not hard. I know BBC World news is my preference if I'm OS, lord knows you can not get Aust news, and its not all that good even if I could!

I would like the books to be more like field guides, accurate and all, and cut down on the lame humor. But I got a feeling it will be more colorful and entertaining to generate more sales. I like their maps.

Since the BBC does a lot of travel programs I can imagine there being some cross-over between the BBC programs and LP. Hopefully this will be mutually beneficial.

As a Brit I have to say the BBC is one of the best inventions ever. The fact that it is publicly funded helps to make it ethical and very accountable - very unusual for a large media organisation. And watching television programs without advert breaks is wonderful. I can't stand Sky and all those other cable channels that cram adverts in every 10 minutes.

I have to agree with Craze_boi, apart from purchasing a lisense (about £130 p/y) the BBC is a free service. ( so technically not free!) but it is heavily regulated therefore always provides unbiased news reports / programs.

The last few years they have also expanded into digital channels and their website is always one of the first places I visit to keep up with the news.

I'm not quite sure how the BBC will use Lonely Planet. I can only see it being of benefit to LP, as the BBC has such an 'army' of reporters and correspondents throughout the world, there must be a manoeuvre it to get the best from it.

I am not sure I like the change, you can check out this link about the subject
http://www.mybackpackingbuddies.com/lonely-planet-under...-changes-yet-41.html
they have the trailer for the TV show for the Lonely planet and it seems to "cool" to be serious, but maybe it is just me.