Blog
Lonely Planet releases free Christchurch download
by Natalia
Travel / January 26, 2012
One of the things I like about working in the publishing industry is the long lead times: in an age of 24-hour newscasts and instantaneous gratification, publishers are unique in producing reflective, sustained, intelligent coverage of hot button issues.
But the glacial pace of traditional publishing has its drawbacks—I remember working on a book once that took a decade to move from conception to printing—and of course this is particularly problematic in travel publishing.
Case in point: Lonely Planet's 16th edition of the New Zealand travel guide is due to be published in September, but because it was written before last February's earthquake, the current edition is of limited use on the ground.
So this week Lonely Planet is releasing a free download of the Christchurch chapter on its website. The chapter, researched by Brett Atkinson in December, is the first Christchurch guide to be released since the earthquake, and Lonely Planet is taking the unusual step of making it available eight months ahead of the guide's official release.
Kudos to Lonely Planet for being nimble enough to get the most up-to-date post-quake travel information out to travellers as quickly as possible!
Any Canadian travellers planning a trip to New Zealand can find out more about the book here.
