Let's Go Faces Market Pressures

Yellow spines in the loud trademark color of Let's Go stand out from the travel shelf at Barnes and Nobles, but Lonely Planet guidebooks, which come in all colors, are taking up more and more shelf space. And shelf space, a common industry measurement of publishing success, is a crucial area where Let's Go can't afford to cede ground to a relative newcomer.

In response, St. Martin's Press-the publisher of the Harvard Student Agencies' Let's Go series-is launching new marketing measures, targeting young travelers, who once formed the backbone of the Let's Go readership.

Representatives of St Martin's press say rising Lonely Planet sales could pose a real threat to the Let's Go empire.

Still, since the payment to students who write and edit the guidebooks does not depend on sales, the offices of Let's Go remain largely free from market concerns.

And St. Martin's Press recently renewed the Let's Go contract for another five years .

A CHANGING MARKET

According to a marketing representative at St. Martin's the travel market is shifting as a result of more guidebook titles and more electronic content and specialized itineraries.

"There are a couple of trends that are eroding sales: the Internet and more competition. Lonely Planet was not really a player until the last few years when they decided to attack the European market," says Esti M. Iturralde `00 of St. Martin's Press. Iturralde was a former Let's Go managing editor.

Lonely Planet sales have grown steadily by 15 to 20 percent each year.

The competition has led Let's Go to launch a series of measures to regain the college market-including a cross-country road trip to hand out free books on college campuses and an attempt to allow travelers to customize itineraries online.

In one area, however, Let's Go is playing catch-up. Lonely Planet recently partnered with Palm Pilot to allow tourists to forgo a clunky map and travel book for a square inch chip of information. Soon, Let's Go hopes to do the same.

ON THE STUDENT FRONT

The Lonely Planet threat is farther from the horizon in the student offices of Let's Go, where the staff is currently preparing to release their nearly 200 research-writers into the field.

"Lonely Planet is always one of our competitors, but we're doing fine, we exceeded our budget and we're making oodles of money," says Sarah P. Rotman `02, publishing director of Let's Go.

Rotman and other students at Let's Go say Lonely Planet is not a serious concern, but more an incentive to produce quality work.

Katherine F. Douglas `02, a Let's Go publicity director, dismisses Lonely Planet sales figures as the result of their expanding titles, including phrasebooks and cookbooks, rather than increasing popularity.

"If their travel guides were actually selling 15-20 percent more than that would give us a run for our money," Douglas says. "The [Let's Go] Europe guide is the number one best selling travel guide in the market. We don't really feel the need to catch up with anyone," Douglas says.

Douglas also mentions several new ventures for Let's Go this year as proof of the series' healthy growth.

Let's Go is expanding the City Guides section that it launched last year to include Amsterdam and Barcelona.

Research-writers will also head westward this summer to compile information for the new Southwest USA guide, which will be part of the Let's Go outdoor adventure series, pairing rock-climbing and budget travel together at last.

Decisions to expand coverage are made in collaboration with St. Martin's press, which publishes the guides, the Let's Go editor and chief and managing editorial team.

To shoulder the increasing workload, the Let's Go home office on Mt. Auburn street is also expanding this year, Douglas says, with more managing editors and associate editors to churn out the more than 50 titles to be released for the 2002 series.

Students at Let's Go say they think the new titles will contribute to Let's Go sales, but they say, unlike at Lonely Planet, sales do not dictate all Let's Go decisions.

"Our mission is a little different [than the competition]," Douglas says. "First, we want to put out the best budget travel guide, but we also want to provide the best student jobs that we can."

-Staff writer Rachel E. Dry can be reached at dry@fas.harvard.edu