Sales up for travel guides after seven-year slump

In the UK, the travel guide market has recorded an increase in sales in 2015 for the first time in seven years, reports the Bookseller. After averaging sales of £103m-£104m (A$211m-A$213) in 2004-2007, Nielsen BookScan’s Atlases, Maps and Travel category fell to just £59m (A$121m) in 2012-14, but has since increased slightly by 0.2% to £59.2m (A$121.3). Within this category, Travel and Holiday Guides were up 1.1% to £34.1m (A$69.9m), Phrasebooks were up 4% to £1.1m (A$2.3m), and General Folded Maps & Walking Guides were up 3.7% to £11.2m (A$23.0). Brett Wolstoncroft, manager at London-based travel specialists Daunt Books, told the Bookseller that sales of print travel guides have been ‘significantly up’ over the past 12 months, and that the recent cancellation of Time Out Guide Books would benefit the remaining guidebook publishers. ‘The guidebook industry is slightly chasing its own tail,’ said Wolstoncroft. ‘Those that have stuck around and carried on with a wide range of guides, like Rough Guides and Lonely Planet, have simply lapped up some of these changes … We don’t see any evidence of people abandoning guidebooks—apps certainly haven’t been the answer.’

Category: International news