Lonely Planet breaks with tradition to take ads

by Caitlin Fitzsimmons, Media Week 24-Jan-06, 15:33

Travel guide publisher Lonely Planet is to accept advertisements on its popular website for the first time and has appointed ad 2-one as its commercial sales house.

Ad 2-one, which beat Unanimus in a two-way pitch, will sell ad space, email sponsorship and advertising-funded content solutions on LonelyPlanet.com across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia.

LonelyPlanet.com receives more than two million unique users and 15 million page impressions per month, making it the second most-visited website in the book publishers category of the Hitwise Business & Finance division.

Cameron Holland, global e-commerce manager at Lonely Planet, said the shift in strategy was to fund new initiatives that would "make the site an even more compelling place to visit for independent travellers".

"Ad 2-one are global players and their business approach and philosophy reassured us that Lonely Planet advertising would be handled with the care and understanding that this established and much-loved brand deserves."

Lonely Planet, which started publishing travel guide books in 1973 and now publishes more than 600 titles in English alone, is diversifying rapidly into new media.

The Australian company receives and answers about 1,000 emails and letters from travellers every week, while its bulletin board, the Thorn Tree, has over 5,000 posts a day.