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Guidebook publishers are meeting tourists where they are—
and suggesting new routes to fulfilling vacations
BY DIANNA DILWORTH
When traveling, certain things are a given: the person seated in front of you on the plane will recline his seat before the “fasten seat belts” sign is turned on; you’ll find the best hotel room rates on aggregator sites; and to get the best deal on airfare, you should book on a Tuesday. Actually, though that last one held true for several years, when the Airline
Reporting Corp. analyzed 26 million airfare transactions made in 2016, the organization found
that Tuesday is no longer the day to get the best airfares. Now, flights booked over the weekend
cost, on average, 19% less than flights booked on weekdays.
Similarly, travelers won’t necessarily find the best hotel rates on booking sites. “Hotels want
you to book directly with them, so that they don’t have to give up a commission to the
Pricelines and Expedias of the world,” says Pauline Frommer, editorial director for the Frommer
guidebooks. “If you book through a major chain hotel’s loyalty program, the prices are always
lower than what you’ll find advertised on third-party sites;like Expedia or Travelocity. Our latest
guidebooks are updated with this kind of evolving advice.”
Another shift: travel photography isn’t exclusively the province of professionals with bags full
of expensive equipment. In November, Rough Guides is releasing You Are Here, featuring more
than 600 photos submitted by readers from around the globe. The book, says Rough Guides
senior travel editor Neil McQuillian, is a reaction to screen fatigue. “We’re looking at our phones
all the time, scrolling, but not really stopping to digest the images,” he says. “We wanted to stop
the scrolling, and get a really beautiful selection that captures our readers’ experiences in print.”
Below, publishers tell us more about how they’re catering to the interests and experiences of
the modern traveler—though they haven’t yet found a way to keep that pesky seat back in front
of you in the upright position.
