Travel Conqueror

Lonely Planet Guide Author Reveals Secrets

Thomas Kohnstamm wrote the Lonely Planet Guide for Columbia, despite the fact he’d never set foot in the country. Thomas Kohnstamm has written a new tell-all book that reveals what really goes on in the travel guide industry

In an interview for his own book - Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? - Kohnstamm appears to admit that he used other authors’ information, and accepted gifts in contravention of the policies of Lonely Planet, which is now partly owned by the BBC.

The writer’s exposé of the guidebook business portrays a morally ambiguous view of the job, which Kohnstamm claims is “not all about beautiful sunsets and fancy cocktails with paper umbrellas” – although casual sex and exotic locations feature prominently.

So far the book has gone over like a proverbial “lead balloon” in the travel industry. Particularly upset, of course, are his former employers at Lonely Planet.

Kohstamm claims that many of the comments in his book have been mis-interpreted and that trying to know everything about any place in the world is nearly impossible. In his case it was even tougher because he never went there.