12 Oct 2008
Top Ten Guidebook Thoughts

Since I spend much of my waking hours editing, writing or just thinking about guidebooks the thought does more than occasionally come to me – what does the future hold? Here in true guidebook spirit, are my Top Ten Guidebook Thoughts, in no discernible order:

(1) Guidebooks can and must provide really well-informed opinions and advice, not merely rehash what’s easily found on the internet.
(2) Good guidebooks to small localities are the key: city guides, small regions and environmentally responsible tourism.
(3) As petrol gets pricier and the roads get more clogged up, the desire for extensive car tours might wilt somewhat. I came across a 1970s AA guide that featured a now hilariously bizarre 18-mile road tour in central London – starting at Trafalgar Square, and taking in the sights of the West End. Will the idea of expecting readers to enjoy a road tour of the Lake District or the Cotswolds seem dated in years to come?
(4) The future of trains is looking rosy – certainly in Europe (with the advent of through-ticketing in many western European countries for instance). I just hope rail travel gets cheaper.
(5) Guidebooks don’t have to try appealing to the young and hip all the time. I suspect older readers will provide the bulk of the readership: they have more time and money, and are fitter and with wider interests than is often perceived.
(6) Publishers should evaluate what is actually useful, and not be afraid to jettison text included ‘for information’s sake’ that belong to the pre-internet era – addresses of embassies and poste restante facilities for example.
(7) Readers mostly are on some sort of budget, so ludicrously overpriced establishments should be avoided.
(8) Really reliable restaurant listings need time and money to research properly, and are too often plagiarized as a result.
(9) To get quality research and writing from their authors, publishers should allow sensible deadlines.
(10) Guidebooks should avoid being over-formulaic, and shouldn’t assume for example that everything can be treated as a ‘top ten’ list. Whoops…

Tim Locke