Berkeley Challenges Let's Go

Participants in a new publishing venture at the University of California Berkeley said yesterday they plan to give Harvard's Let's Go budget travel guide series a run for its money.

Andrew R. Barbour, projects director of Berkeley Travel Guides, said the new series was inspired by the idea of pitting the West Coast against the East Coast and Berkeley reputation against the Harvard reputation.

"Berkeley is famous for its tolerance and diversity. Harvard has the reputation of being expensive and dare I say, elitist blue-blood, upper-class and East Coast," Barbour said. "It just doesn't mix well with budget travel."

The new series' planners say they hope to improve on the style of budget travel writing that Let's Go pioneered at its creation 32 years ago. Let's Go is a for-profit subsidiary of Harvard Student Agencies (HSA).

Let's Go books have not been as accurate and up-to-date. It's time for something fresh," said Michael Spring, editorial director of Fodor's Travel Guide, which initiated the idea of the Berkeley guides.

"We wanted a different tone than Let's Go," said Shelly M. Smith, a writer for the Berkeley guides.

"The tone of Let's Go...is reliant on inside, self-referential jokes that are not useful to the traveler. Our guides are written more like letters to a friends," Smith Said.

The Berkeley guides also aim to take greater accounts of minority populations such as gays and lesbians, and handicapped people, Smith said.

Let's Go officials said they do not feel threatened by the new kid on the budget travel guide block.

In response to Barbour's accusations of Harvard elitism, HSA President Brian Goler '93 said, "A number of the HSA employees are on financial aid. I would question the accuracy of that statement."

"We applaud Berkeley's effort in publishing a travel guide, but Let's Go has for 32 years been catering to the needs of people with handicaps, the elderly, vegetarians, people who are kosher," said Peter Deemer '91-'93, the series' publishing director. "We feel they aren't coming out with anything new."

Spring said there is room enough in the market for both series.

"There's a whole world out there," said Spring. "But, obviously, we think our books are better."