Branching out beyond travel publishing, Lonely Planet will open a brick-and-mortar store at Sydney Airport in Australia. As bookstores struggle through the recession, the travel publisher is experimenting with a carefully-placed niche bookshop.
The store will sell Lonely Planet’s travel guides, phrasebooks, pictorials and reference books, as well as gifts and travel accessories–hoping to tempt the 10 million travelers who pass through the airport every year. In addition, the store will offer “online interactive portals” and be staffed by traveling experts.
Here’s more from the release: “Lonely Planet remains the market leader in travel guides in Australia, averaging 60 percent market share. In the last 12 months, Lonely Planet’s Australian sales grew 13 percent. Lonely Planet Sales and Marketing Director, Howard Ralley, said, ‘The opening of the first Lonely Planet store is an exciting evolution for our brand. It’s something we’ve discussed for some time.'”