Lonely Planet founders ’sell out’ to BBC Worldwide

The British Broadcasting Trust and Lonely Planet Publications announced today that Lonely Planet’s founders, Tony Wheeler and Maureen Wheeler, have sold their majority stake in Lonely Planet to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Worldwide for an undisclosed sum.

Here’s a link to an upbeat video of Tony and Maureen’s official ‘adieu’ announcement on lonelyplanet.tv [after the 15-second ad].

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is reporting a sale price of $250 million [in Australian dollars, or roughly US$220mil]. Reuters pegs the price at 100 million pounds (or US$203mil). The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has is at CA$221 million.

Here’s an ABC mp3 audio of Tony Wheeler explaining the deal (and the decision to keep publishing a Burma/Myanmar guidebook), in which he uses the phrase “sell out.”

The BBC and Lonely Planet are both reporting that the Wheelers will retain a 25% share of Lonely Planet and seats on the company’s board. As of Oct. 1, Lonely Planet is still hiring in Melbourne and London, from an Executive Assistant to the CFO to a Business Development Manager for Lonely Planet Images.

Here’s a link to a recent Q&A with Tony and Maureen Wheeler, with the Travel editors at our sister publication, the Chicago Tribune.

As of the time of the sale announcement, here’s what the BBC had to say about Lonely Planet:

“BBC recommends: Lonely Planet
Select your destination and find indispensable, money-saving local information, including practical details like whether it’s acceptable to haggle.”

Here’s what Lonely Planet had to say about the BBC:

“BBC World Service - 648AM: Internationally known for its news coverage; also current affairs from around the world with a British accent.”

Finally, here’s what user ‘odecar10,’ a self-described “Economic migrant to the UK from the Emerald isle in the bad old days of the 1980’s and still there” had to say, on Lonely Planet’s Thorntree bulletin board:

“Unfortunately its true. LP now owned by the propoganda [sic] arm of the British Government.”

Watch this space for updates on how these developments might affect the guidebook and “independent” travel publisher’s future publishing, multimedia and broadcasting plans.

Does this move bode well for LP, its vibrant online community and tradition of ‘independent’ travel advice? Chime in below in the Comments section.

- Andrew D. Nystrom, Sr. Producer, travel.latimes.com

[Disclosure: I worked full-time for Lonely Planet for several years, starting in 1998, and—as a freelance author, editor, essayist, cartographer and photographer—contributed to a couple dozen Lonely Planet travel guidebook and reference titles. Like the majority of Lonely Planet authors, I have no ongoing financial stake in the company and receive no royalties from any Lonely Planet products that retain my byline...even the ones that have been translated in Hebrew, Korean, Polish and Czech.]

[Photo credit: Profile image of Tony Wheeler courtesy of ahn sang-soo]
[Photo credit: Tony + Maureen Wheeler, circa the early 1970s / Lonely Planet]

Related News + Links:

MocoInterview: Bob Hitching On Lonely Planet’s Mobile Plans (May 2, 2007)
“Good news, they’re hiring: Lonely Planet is setting up an innovation lab in Sydney to build the new mobile technology, and are looking for partners to do this. It’s also looking to attract Sydney’s top engineering talent… The trials of the new technology will take place mostly in Sydney, London and San Francisco.”

The Independent (UK): BBC Worldwide snaps up Lonely Planet (Oct. 1, 2007)
“The BBC said the deal would enable it to develop a “huge amount” of digital and online opportunities with the brand, particularly in relation to existing BBC content such as Planet Earth and Michael Palin’s New Europe.

Lonely Planet’s website already receives 4.3 million visitors a month, and it has also seen strong growth of its travel forum site Thorn Tree, and its travel video site, lonelyplanet.tv, which enables travellers to upload their own videos.

BBC Worldwide is a division of the BBC which aims to make the most of the BBC’s assets around the world. In the year to the end of March, it generated profits of £111.1 million on sales of £810.4 million.”

The politics of guidebooks (Sept. 21, 2007)
“A new book for travellers to China plans to make no mention of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Should travel guides tell the whole history of a place, or bow to local sensitivities?”

Photo from inside Lonely Planet’s Melbourne headquarters [via a staff publisher]

Lonely Planet Trips Facebook application: Fancy a trip to London?
“Plan and publish your travels around thousands of Lonely Planet destinations, and by adding your own places to the map. Watch travel videos, book flights and hotels, create travel stories from your Facebook photos, keep track of friends on the road.”

Guardian Unlimited (UK): BBC plans digital boost for Lonely Planet (Oct. 1, 2007)

“BBC Worldwide is to invest tens of millions of pounds in an ambitious project to make Lonely Planet’s guidebooks fully accessible online. The project, which has a two-year timeline, will see the most popular of Lonely Planet’s 500 titles made available for travellers to research their trips and holidays in advance online….[snip]

Mr Smith said that he intended to make 100% of content available from Lonely Planet guidebooks available online, in a 24-month investment programme prioritised in line with different titles’ popularity.”

Lonely Planet Launches Magazine In Spain (Sept. 13, 2007)
“Lonely Planet Magazine is the name of the publisher’s new monthly magazine which launches in Spain. The magazine is produced by Spanish publishing partner geoPlaneta, in association with Sapiens Publications. Scheduled for launch on September 15, the Lonely Planet Magazine is aimed at people who love travelling and want to experience the world through Lonely Planet’s eyes.”

Worldhum / Travel Channel: BBC Worldwide Buys Lonely Planet
Jim Benning on a 2005 New Yorker profile of Tony and Maureen Wheeler by Tad Friend: “It’s hard not to read the story and come away feeling that something essential has been lost, especially for the Wheelers. It’s as if their child has grown up and they’ve lost all control and now they don’t quite know what to make of it all.”

Financial Times (UK): Lonely Planet expands BBC Worldwide horizons (Oct. 1, 2007)
“The deal, which BBC Worldwide described as the largest in its history, will be funded from its £350m borrowing facility. Together with £60m annual cashflows, this has given it scope for more than £400m of acquisitions.
This deal fits well with our strategy to create one of the world’s leading content businesses, to grow our portfolio of content brands online and to increase our operations in Australia and America,” said John Smith, chief executive.

Mr Smith’s promise of doubling operating profits to £222m within five years, all of which must be returned to the BBC, has become more important to the corporation after it received a below-inflation licence fee settlement at the start of the year.”

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 1, 2007 at 2:50 am by Andrew and is filed under Great Britain, News, Tips & Advice, Pacific & Australia, Travel Q&A. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.