Lonely Planets mobile plans
“Lonely Planet are planning a smorgasbord of mobile content for its readers, ranging across SMS, WAP, downloadable Java apps and rich content. [...]
Mobile services will be complementary to guidebooks, allowing people to stay in touch with other travellers and with people back home, through mobile blogging.
Web 2.0 is the answer: For Lonely Planet Web 2.0 solved a lot of problems, or at least pointed the way to the solutions. People are now a lot more comfortable providing reviews and content, and the problem of restaurants (for example) submitting fake reviews is combated by people having a reputation in the forums. “When someone submits a review we know all about their previous behaviour in our digital community,” said Hitching. The company plans to link its mobile efforts to its online sites like the forums Thorn Tree and the accommodation and booking site Haystack.
Part of Lonely Planet’s strategy is community-based, and part is building off the existing content the company has. The revenue stream will depend on the type of content—SMS services lend themselves to premium SMS billing while other content could involve sponsorships or other forms of mobile advertising.
Location-based services are ideally suited to travellers finding their way around a new city. At the end of this month Lonely Planet is launching a new series of books—Encounter—which will be more concise and direct, designed for people who are spending only a short amount of time in a city. It’s launching SMS services to coincide with that”.
The first company’s mobile effort – ‘CityPicks’ in 2005:
“Aussie telco Optus has launched a service with Lonely Planet called CityPicks, which are basically destination guides for more than 40 cities around the world with at least 50 recommendations per city”. www.moconews.net
