• What's ticked?
• Accolades
• Contact us

c o l u m n s

• Cheap Charlie
• ChrisCrossings
• Err Travel
• Leocha
• Travel Notes
• Archives

Travel Guides Bloom
Kirby's Korner · October 1, 1999

Last time I kicked off a discussion of online destination information by expressing a dislike for a new, ambitious city guide. But the discussion got started when Microsoft's Slate magazine ran a series of e-mail exchanges on printed travel guides, with the tenor of that discussion being that the guides offer little.

Each of the four travel guides examined by the Slate editorial assistant and the freelance writer have an analog in cyberspace. Do the Web sites fare any better?

It depends upon what you're looking for. There is a broad disparity between what you'll find on each site and the attitude each site adopts in reaching an audience.

We can eliminate Access Guides from the discussion immediately. I admit I'm not familiar with the publications, and the Web site does nothing to make me want to become familiar.

The site primarily promotes the printed volumes. You'll find short essays on a small number of destinations, but you'll get more detail on a destination in any magazine article you find on the subject. You can purchase the books online through a two-step process that eventually lets you choose from a number of online retailers.

I expected to favor Lonely Planet. The publisher hopes to do well by doing good -- putting most of the content from the savvy guides online for free. The belief is that you'll nibble at the information on the Web and end up buying the printed banquet.

The site has much to recommend it in addition to text from the guidebooks. You can "upgrade" purchased books with information not available at the time they were printed; you can read current news and magazine-type articles on worldwide destinations. The site design is clean and easy to navigate. And, of course, you can order books online.

Where Lonely Planet falls down is in taking advantage of the medium. There are links to outside Web sites for additional information, but not many links. There are discussion areas on destinations and a limited number of general travel topics, but these don't seem to be actively used.

If you and your friends could take over the discussion areas with witty, useful information on you favorite travel topics, the entire Web site would bump up a notch or two.

Compare the interactive elements on the Fodors site. Until this week, it had been months since I visited the site, which the publisher acknowledges is designed to get travelers interested in its printed guidebooks. But in doing so, Fodors has adopted the best the Web has to offer.

There are active travel forums, arranged by geographic topic but quickly splitting into sub-levels with interesting and useful responses. There is a "resource center" with many, many links to outside Web sites.

A "planning center" focuses on only a small number of destinations, but if your choice is covered you'll find links to information both within and outside the site.

One useful feature lets visitors build their own "miniguides" to destinations. Choose your spot, tell Fodors what you want by clicking a series of radio buttons and check boxes, and it will return a customized travel resource.

Fodors is the place to start if you're interested in destination content. Unfortunately, except in the resource center, you can't easily find information on more general travel topics.

Frommer's is, well, Frommer's. Writer Arthur Frommer is known for the attitude he brings to his writing. I don't want to chase you away, but if you like the opinionated approach of Ticked.com, you'll probably like Frommer's.

There are a large number of active discussion areas. There is general destination information. And, whatever you do, don't miss the selection of columns by Arthur Frommer that challenge traditional travel writing and concepts. Between the general discussions and Arthur's contributions, there are plenty of general travel ideas to chew over.

I have only two criticisms: The site's design is ugly as sin, cluttered with promotions for Frommer's publications and general ads. And a large collection of travel e-commerce opportunities available there raises the question whether they were chosen for value or for the revenue-sharing that certainly is behind them.

Three of the four sites discussed by Slate have something to recommend them. You can't go wrong with a batting average like that.

David Kirby is the editor of the Interactive Travel Report. His column appears on Friday. You can reach him at dbkirby@pressroom.com.