Lonely Planet Reveals Top 40 Bestsellers in 40th Anniversary Year

Guidebooks, kids’ books and cookbooks. As part of its ongoing 40th Anniversary celebrations in 2013, Lonely Planet has today revealed its Top 40 best-selling books in Australia for the last 12 months.

Topping the list is Lonely Planet Vietnam (now in its 11th edition), closely followed by Pocket New York City and Pocket Paris, with Lonely Planet’s comprehensive European planning guides Discover Europe and Europe on a Shoestring rounding out the top five positions.

Lonely Planet is the world’s most successful travel publisher and the number one travel guidebook brand in Australia, the UK and the US (source: Nielsen BookScan).

Its Top 40 Australian bestsellers for the May 2012-April 2013 period highlight the range and depth of Lonely Planet titles currently in print, as well as providing insight into which cities, countries and continents Australians are visiting.

The first-ever Lonely Planet guidebook was 1973’s Across Asia on the Cheap, and that continent remains an enduring destination for Australian travellers, with 15 Asian titles on the Top 40 list, from Bali & Lombok and Japan, through to India and Southeast Asia on a Shoestring.

Reflecting the strength of the Australian dollar over the past 12 months, the list also features eight European titles (such as Italy, Western Europe and France), as well as seven guides covering the US (including three separate New York City guidebooks).

Short trip guides are increasingly popular, with 10 of Lonely Planet’s Pocket guides (previously known as Encounter guides, and specifically designed for one-to-three-day city stays) hitting the Top 40, courtesy of travellers planning to visit destinations as diverse as Paris and Phuket.

Trips closer to home have ensured that Lonely Planet’s guides to New Zealand (the number one destination for Australian arrivals), Australia and Tasmania are also prominently featured on the Top 40 best-selling list.

In addition, Lonely Planet’s pictorial and gift books provide inspiration for both active and armchair travellers, and six of these titles are in the Top 40, from the Great Journeys coffee-table book to the agenda-setting Best in Travel 2013. Another notable bestseller in this genre is the Not-for-Parents edition of The Travel Book, specially created for 8-to-11-year-olds who are curious about exploring the world.

Lonely Planet’s Asia Pacific Sales & Marketing Director Chris Zeiher says the publisher’s 40th Anniversary year is the ideal time to celebrate these Top 40 bestsellers, as well as the Australian travellers who have purchased them.

“What a list! There are countries, cities and continents, alongside kids’ books and cookbooks in our Top 40 bestsellers this year,” Chris says. “With Australians travelling internationally in record numbers, Lonely Planet’s Top 40 bestseller list reads like a menu of perennial favourites and emerging hotspots.”

“It’s fascinating to note destinations like Hawaii and Sri Lanka in such high demand,” Chris observes. “Could Sri Lanka be the new Vietnam? I’m also really encouraged that there’s genuine demand for domestic destinations like Tasmania – which sells more than France! The inclusion on the list of one our children’s titles – Not-for-Parents: The Travel Book – is also a great indication that we’re inspiring the next generation of Aussie travellers.”

Lonely Planet’s Top 40 best-selling books in Australia for the May 2012-April 2013 period (source: Nielsen BookScan) are:

1. Vietnam
2. Pocket New York City
3. Pocket Paris
4. Discover Europe
5. Europe on a Shoestring
6. Pocket London
7. USA
8. Bali & Lombok
9. Pocket Bali
10. Japan
11. Italy
12. New York City
13. Discover Italy
14. New Zealand
15. Western Europe
16. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & Northern Thailand
17. Pocket Singapore
18. Thailand
19. South America on a Shoestring
20. Pocket Hong Kong
21. Australia
22. Tasmania
23. Hawaii
24. France
25. Discover USA
26. Hong Kong Encounter
27. Discover New York City
28. Phuket Encounter
29. India
30. The Travel Book
31. Discover Thailand
32. Bali Encounter
33. Pocket Los Angeles
34. Great Journeys
35. Not for Parents: The Travel Book
36. Southeast Asia on a Shoestring
37. 1000 Ultimate Experiences
38. The World’s Best Street Food
39. Best in Travel 2013
40. Sri Lanka

Lonely Planet’s Share Your Travel Story Campaign
Lonely Planet has also launched an Australian-New Zealand trade and consumer marketing campaign to celebrate its 40th Anniversary. Since 1973, Lonely Planet has been helping to create amazing travel experiences and travellers are now invited to share their best travel stories from the last 40 years.

After purchasing any Lonely Planet book featuring a ‘Share Your Travel Story’ promotional sticker, customers are encouraged to visit www.lonelyplanet.com/shareyourtravelstory and share their own travel story (in 140 characters or less).

Everyone who shares their story on the website will receive a free Lonely Planet t-shirt personalised with their own unique 140-character experience.

The writer of the best travel story (as judged by Lonely Planet) will win a $10,000 Flight Centre Travel Voucher.

Retailers are also encouraged to participate in the Retailer Display Competition. In Australia, there are four $1000 cash or retail voucher prizes to be won for the best window or in-store retail displays of the Lonely Planet competition. Retailers must send a photo(s) to sales@lonelyplanet.com.au by 15 June 2013 to be in the running.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/press/2013/05/14/lonely-planet-reveals-top-40-bestsellers-in-40th-anniversary-year/#ixzz2TMBW0zb3