Travel Distribution Asia Special: By EFT CorrespondentLonely Planet has been working with foreign language partners to create LP branded pages on partner websites in the Asia Pacific region.

Published: 15 Mar 2007

Travel Distribution Asia Special: By EFT Correspondent

Lonely Planet has been working with foreign language partners to create LP branded pages on partner websites in the Asia Pacific region.

Sharing the latest developments, Sarah Ouellette, business development
associate - Asia/Pacific, Lonely Planet Publications, said, "MSN in Japan
recently launched our Japanese language travel section that is an LP branded
space. We have also moved online in Chinese with our content via
www.lonelyplanet.cn with plans to expand this offering to be a fully functional
Chinese version of LP.com."

Sarah, who was recently in Singapore for the Travel Distribution Summit Asia
'07 in Singapore, added, "We have also made movements in community building in
China through a partnership with eLong.com, one of the biggest travel booking
sites in the country. We worked with them to create a photo competition where
users upload their images and the community votes on the best. Great result and
a way to promote the LP brand through direct interaction with consumers."

On other major developments for Lonely Planet in the APAC region, Sarah said,
"We have made a major committment to our development in Asia via the trade and
online channels. The appointment of James Sundram as Director of Sales and
Marketing based in Singapore reflects LP's intention to capitalise on the
momentum we already have across the Asian region, which is now our fastest
growing market. LP's Chinese language sales have far exceeded our expectations
and bode well for further growth across various platforms."

"The biggest development for LP globally has been the revamping of our
website. We are in the process of launching our video site, lonelyplanet.tv,
which will combine user generated content, social media and LP content in one,"
she said.