Brand Icon: Lonely Planet

�� Lonely Planet Publications (usually known as Lonely
Planet or LP) is one of the largest travel guidebook
publishers in the world. It was the first popular series of
travel books aimed at backpackers and other low-cost
travelers.
�� The Melbourne, Australia headquartered Lonely Planet
is now controlled by BBC Worldwide, who own a 75%
share, while founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler still
own 25% of the company.
�� Lonely Planet has a television production company (Lonely Planet Television), which has produced and
developed four series: Lonely Planet Six Degrees, The Sport Traveller, Going Bush, Vintage New
Zealand and Bluelist Australia.
�� Lonely Planet’s first book, Across Asia on the Cheap, was written and published by Englishman Tony
Wheeler, a former engineer at Chrysler Corp. and the University of Warwick and London Business School
graduate, and his wife Maureen Wheeler in Sydney in 1973, following a lengthy jaunt across the continent
from Turkey, through Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan before ending up in India or Nepal.
�� Written with panache and full of strong opinions, Across Asia on the Cheap sold well enough in Australia
that it allowed the couple to expand it into South-East Asia on a shoestring (nicknamed the ‘Yellow Bible’),
quickly became the classic guidebook for budget travelers in this part of the world, and remains one of the
company's biggest sellers.
�� The Lonely Planet name comes from a misheard line in ‘Space Captain,’ a song by Joe Cocker and Leon
Russell. The actual words are ‘lovely planet’ but Tony Wheeler heard ‘lonely planet’ and liked it.
�� Lonely Planet’s free Thorn Tree web forum is used to trade tips and advice.
�� The founders, Tony and Maureen Wheeler, have written a book titled Once While Travelling: The Lonely
Planet Story (known as Unlikely destinations: The Lonely Planet story in North America) telling how they
met and married, how they travelled from London to Australia overland and how Lonely Planet was formed.
Drishti
(5) of (10)
�� Lonely Planet has been blamed for the rise of what is sometimes referred to as ‘the Banana Pancake
Trail’ in South East Asia. Critics argue that this has lead to the destruction of local culture and disturbance of
once quiet sites.
�� In 2006, Tony Wheeler launched a joint awareness campaign with Mark Ellingham (Rough Guide
founder) on the impact of aviation on climate change. The two travel publishers urged their readers to ‘Fly
less, stay longer’ wherever possible.
�� In April, 2008, American writer Thomas Kohnstamm published the memoir Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?,
which touched on his experience writing a guidebook for Lonely Planet in Brazil.