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概要：在互联网和AI兴起的时代，旅游指南类的书籍似乎越来越变得可有可无。尤其是在中国，旅行者们更多依靠网络和小红书这类社交媒体平台获取旅行信息。6月26日，Lonely Planet甚至关闭了中国分部。但是，这类书籍也有他们的生存之道，那就是利用实体书的优势：携带、涂写更加方便，信息更加可靠。
Why travel guidebooks are not going anywhere
Despite predictions that the internet would kill them
June 27th 2024
THEY DECLAREDthat it was dead—or, if
it wasn’t dead yet, it soon would be. The cause of the malady was viral: first blogs, then influencers on Instagram and TikTok.
Yet, for all journalists’ poor prognoses,
the printed travel guide is still in
fine fettle. Sales in Britain were mostly flat in 2014-19, a period when
smartphones became both ubiquitous and powerful.
注：malady /ˈmælədi/ 疾病，病症。例句：Her persistent malady caused her to miss several days of work. (她持续发作的疾病导致她缺席了好几天的工作。)
prognose /prɒgˈnəʊz/ 预测，预言，预示。例句：His team of experts will prognose the economic outlook for the next quarter. (他的专家团队将预测下一个季度的经济前景。)
in fine fettle 处于良好状态或健康状况
fettle /ˈfɛtl/ 安好，健康，状态良好。例句：He's in fine fettle after recovering from his illness. (他从病中恢复后状态良好。)
That is not to say there have not been spells of ill health. Frommer’s, the grandfather of American guidebooks, was sold in 2012 for $22m to Google, which reportedly planned to end the series’ print run. (The following year Arthur Frommer, its founder, bought the company back.) Lonely Planet, the best-known publisher, has been through several owners at ever-lower valuations. In 2020 the company ended up in the hands of Red Ventures, a publishing house funded by private equity.
注：spell of ill health 一段时间的不良健康状况
The one virus that did come close to killing guides off wascovid-19. Guidebook publishers saw 95-99% of revenues evaporate when lockdowns hit. Yet in both America and Britain, the biggest markets for English-language guides, sales are approaching pre-pandemic levels. Last year Americans bought 5.8m guidebooks and maps—down from 6.9m before the pandemic, but up from 4m in 2020.
Any obituaries, then, are premature. But why do guidebooks still roll off the presses when all the information you could need is in your pocket? One answer is that print is a useful medium for information on the go. Books can be scribbled on and dog-eared; they need no charging or internet access. They can be easier to browse than social media, websites or e-books (and attract less attention from pickpockets).
注：obituary /əˈbɪtʃuˌɛri/ 讣告，讣闻。例句：The newspaper published an obituary for the famous author who passed away last week. (报纸刊登了上周逝世的著名作家的讣告。)
roll off the presses 指印刷机上的纸张从滚筒上滚下来，表明印刷品已经完成并准备发行。
on the go 指在旅行中
scribble /ˈskrɪbəl/ 潦草地写，乱涂，乱画。例句: He scribbled a note and left it on the kitchen table. (他匆匆写了一张便条放在了厨房桌上。)
dog-eared /ˈdɒɡˌɪrd/ 污损的，翻旧不堪的。例句：He pulled out a dog-eared paperback from his backpack.（他从背包里拿出一本翻旧不堪的平装书。）
pickpocket /ˈpɪkˌpɒkɪt/ n.扒手。例句：Be careful of pickpockets when you're in crowded places. (在拥挤的地方要小心扒手。)
Another is that guidebooks have changed with the times. Rick Steves, the author of America’s bestselling guides to European destinations, published his first guidebook 44 years ago. He still personally researches many of his books, which offer a lot of information in small type. His publishers, being more business-minded, also produce pocket guides, which take those tips and enliven them with photographs. Double-dipping is one way to boost profits; many other publishers do it.
注：enliven /ɪnˈlaɪvn/ 使活跃，使有生气。例句：The music enlivened the party and got everyone dancing.（音乐让派对变得活跃起来，大家跳起了舞。）
in small type小号字体
Double-dipping从两个不同的来源获得收入
A more dramatic adaptation is visible in the newest editions of Lonely Planet’s flagship guides, which look like someone printed out an Instagram account. The books relegate restaurant and hotel listings to the margins. Nitya Chambers, Lonely Planet’s executive editor, says the overhaul was driven by market research that showed that readers “have more information than ever before” on eating and stays, but are looking for things to do.
注：relegate /ˈrɛlɪˌgeɪt/ v. 1. 使降级，贬谪，使降职；2. 把...调动到（另一个工作、职责或地位）中。例句：He was relegated to a less important position after the company's restructuring. (公司重组后，他被降到了一个不那么重要的职位。)
Sales data support Lonely Planet’s claim. Guides that focus on food and accommodation are falling out of favour in Britain according to Stephen Mesquita, the author of the Nielsen Bookscan Travel Publishing Yearbook, an industry bible. Between 2019 and 2023, sales of such guides for domestic destinations were down by 49% and by 20% for overseas ones.
注：专注食宿的旅游指南销售惨淡。
If print books are no longer selling comprehensiveness, then what is it they are selling? One answer is authenticity. “I can’t help people that just want to do what everybody else does,” Mr Steves says. Another is curation. “The more content out there, the better for guide publishers,” says René Frey, who publishes Rough Guides and Insight Guides.
注：纸质版旅游指南不再依靠信息全面取胜，而是专注信息的真实性，以及信息的筛选。信息越泛滥，信息筛选越有必要。
curation /kjʊˈreɪʃən/ 策展，精心挑选和管理。例句：The museum's curation of the new exhibit was well-received by visitors. (博物馆对新展览的策展受到了游客的好评。)
Rough Guides and Insight Guides都是知名的旅行指南系列，用于提供关于世界各地目的地的旅行信息和建议。
Trust—or, rather, brand—is important. Mr Frommer, Mr Steves and Lonely Planet’s founders, Tony and Maureen Wheeler, all produced their first guides decades ago, in an era when both international travel and self-publishing were expensive and rare. That allowed them to stand out and build businesses. Now, thanks to cheap air fares and social media, anyone can opine on eateries on the other side of the world. But wannabetravel writers will find that it is hard to gain traction online.
注：opine on 对某个话题发表意见
wannabe /ˈwɒnəbiː/ 希望成为某种类型的人，力图模仿他人的人。例句：She's just a wannabe actress who hangs around the casting offices hoping to be discovered. (她只是一个希望成为演员的人，在演员选拔办公室闲逛，希望能被发现。)
One market in which guidebooks have struggled isChina, the world’s biggest spender on outbound tourism. On June 26th Lonely Planet announced that it was closing its China branch after ten years. Many Chinese travel as part of organised tours, so see no need for guides; younger travellers are more likely to organise their own itineraries, but rely on digital resources rather than books. The most popular app for tourists is Xiaohongshu, which Rest of World, a digital news outlet, describes as “a cross between a niche subreddit, a Tripadvisor page and a video game”. Gaode, a map app, offers user-generated lists of “must-visit sites”.
注：中国人不喜欢看旅游指南，他们要么跟团游，要么从小红书这样的社交平台上寻找信息。
outbound tourism出境游
itinerary /aɪˈtɪnəˌreri/ 行程，旅程安排。例句：I have planned a detailed itinerary for our trip to Europe. (我已经为我们去欧洲的旅行安排了详细的行程。)
Perhaps, in time, similar apps may take off in the West.Artificial intelligence is another incipient challenge. Like a good guide, AI’s promise is that it can do the tedious research and produce a precis. Frommer’s, for its part, experimented with using AI to offer tailor-made answers to travellers’ questions, but found that it was making things up too often to be useful. Nothing makes a traveller reach for their trusty guidebook more than a bogus tip. ■
注：incipient /ɪnˈsɪpiənt/ adj. 起初的，初现的。例句：She could sense the incipient panic in his voice. (她能感觉到他声音中初现的恐慌。)
tedious /ˈtiːdiəs/ (adj.) 单调乏味的，令人厌倦的。例句：The tedious task of data entry bored her to tears. (枯燥的数据录入工作让她感到厌烦。)
precis /ˈpreɪsiː/ 摘要，大纲。例句：He wrote a precis of the article for his presentation.(他为演讲写了文章的摘要。)
it was making things up too often to be useful AI经常编造无用的东西
bogus /ˈboʊɡəs/ 假冒的；虚伪的；伪造的。例句：The company was shut down for selling bogus products. (那家公司因销售假冒产品而被关闭。)
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