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Dorling Kindersley to sell Rough Guides to APA Publications

In the UK, Dorling Kindersley (DK) has agreed to sell travel publisher Rough Guides to APA Publications for an undisclosed amount, reports the Bookseller.

DK has begun consultation with 30 staff who work on Rough Guides. Travel publishing director Georgina Dee will remain at DK.

APA Publications CEO René Frey told the Bookseller that APA Publications has agreed to take the Rough Guides staff and will review their role in the company after the handover. Frey said the acquisition is a ‘perfect enhancement’ to APA Publications’ current offering, observing that its Insight Guides are stronger in Asia while Rough Guides are stronger in the UK.

DK CEO Ian Hudson said the decision was made after a ‘wide-ranging travel publishing review’, and that it believe ‘the future success of Rough Guides will be best secured with APA Publications’.

Sales from DK’s travel publishing business are down 6% in value for the year to £4.44m (A$7.46m), and down 9% in volume to 449,980 books, according to Nielsen BookScan. This comes after steady sales for the past five years.

The overall travel guide market experienced two consecutive years of growth in 2015 and 2016, after recording steady declines between 2007 and 2014. Year-to-date sales are down 1.3% and value is flat at 0.03%.

 

Category: International news