E-Mail This Article to a Friend Going the distance (continued)

Q: How do international events in general affect what you do? The tsunami, for instance — would such a massive event like that affect your coverage of a particular region?

A: Obviously we’re constantly adjusting. We try not to see these cataclysmic events in terms of publishing decisions, because they’re so horrible on a human level, but you do have to deal with that practically, and we do have to adjust. We had to postpone the updating of our China book when the SARS outbreak happened, and we ended up doing it a year later. It highlights the problem that all travel publishers have, which is, the minute you put information out there, things can change. That’s kind of a fact of life. If we publish a book and there’s a disaster in its wake, we will update that book on its updating cycle, but we can’t change the book that’s already out on the bookshelf.

Q: Aside from the growth in trips including volunteerism, are there other big travel trends you’ve been seeing?

A: There are a number of things. One is in terms of geographical tourism: we’re seeing a rise in travel to South America and Central America. Central America, and especially Costa Rica, started to really hit last year, and I think people are venturing further into South America this year, to Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile. That’s a big trend. Another trend we’ve seen is that travel to the US has changed a little bit. People don’t travel in the US by bus or rail anymore; they’re road-trippers now. That’s the US travel audience. And to adjust for that, we have a book coming out this spring called Roadtripping USA, which is our response to that. You know, the cross-country trip. That’s another iconic student trip, sort of a companion to the grand European tour.

Q: The dollar has been losing steam in many parts of the world lately. Are there still places Americans can go and really stretch their money?

A: Absolutely. Even in Europe. All you hear in the press and travel community is that the dollar is so weak against the euro, but there are still places in Europe that you can travel very cheaply, especially Eastern Europe, and I think people are really flocking to Eastern Europe because of it. Also I think people are a little bit more reasonable about what they’re going to spend. They know, okay, you can still get pretty cheap airfare to Europe, especially off-season. And then maybe you scale back a little bit. Maybe you don’t stay at the nicer hotels; maybe you stay at the cheaper hotels. And if you’re really on a budget, if you’re staying in hostels, maybe you cut back on some of your other daily expenses. In spite of the dollar’s weakness, we haven’t seen a drop in travel. It’s really to the contrary. I think people are just traveling more.

Q: How worried are you about the bankruptcy issues facing so many airlines these days?

A: These factors can all change the business, but I think that people fundamentally want to travel, and [other] airlines will step into the stead if any of these so-called legacy airlines do fail. We’ve seen it in Europe, too; not every budget airline in Europe has succeeded, but a whole flock of new budget airlines have become major players on the scene, and airfares in Europe have dropped significantly. We’ve seen the same trend towards budget airlines in the United States, and it’s pressuring some of the legacy airlines, and the business is tough, but they’ll find ways to make it work.

Q: When the Let’s Go researchers are out on the road, do they ever just want — and did you ever just want — to stay at a five-star hotel for a night and be completely pampered?

A: At that point in my life, I don’t know that I really knew what a five-star hotel was! Absolutely, occasionally you just feel like you need to take a break. But I don’t know; five-star is kind of against the Let’s Go mentality. I don’t think we ever went five-star. If we were going to go upscale, we’d go to a three-star place that was a really fantastic value.

Q: What are some of the best undiscovered or less-discovered gems?

A: In Eastern Europe, Croatia is really popular, but some of the other Eastern European countries, like Hungary and Czechoslovakia — outside of Budapest and Prague, those countries are not much touristed. Poland is getting hotter. I think that whole region is really interesting, and I think the time to visit there is now, because things are really going to change. And for the better, for those cultures, but if you want to see it in its original, post–Iron Curtain state, you really have to go — well, you had to go 10 years ago, but you have to go now.

In terms of Central America, I think Belize is probably going to take off. It’s one of those other countries like Guatemala; I think people will start to perceive that it’s safer to travel there. That region is still recovering from the stigma of the Central American revolution.

Even more than anything I mentioned so far, Vietnam is the place to visit right now. A lot of people who would go to Thailand or Southeast Asia are going to Vietnam instead. To begin with, that’s just because Thailand is a backpacker mecca already; people are already flocking there, and I think the more intrepid travelers are looking for something a little bit less touristy. And Vietnam is it. And also, in the wake of the tsunami, I think at least for the time being, people will go back to Thailand in strong numbers; in fact, I’ve read news articles saying that people are still keeping their travel plans. But I think that to a certain extent, people will divert their vacations at least until the recovery efforts are finished.

Q: Do you have a favorite Let’s Go guide?

A: I’d have to say the New Zealand book. This is a tough one for me. I edited the Southwest USA book, which I love, but I researched for the New Zealand book, and I love that. I mean, I just love New Zealand in general.

Q: Is that your favorite place to visit?

A: That’s a hard question. There’s no favorite place. I mean, New Zealand was fantastic, but that same year I also traveled to Chile and Argentina, which I thought was fantastic, because it’s more of a cultural challenge. If there is an Eden on this earth, New Zealand is as close to it as I’ve seen.

For information on Let’s Go travel guides, visit www.letsgo.com. Tamara Wieder can be reached at twieder[a]phx.com