Perhaps you too have fifty years of travel on your shelves? Lonely Planet the famous tourist guides are 50 years old! Half a century of advice in all countries of the world. To celebrate the event, RFI is sharing new passenger requests with Dominique Bovet, the France director of Lonely Planet Guides.
RFI: First of all, happy birthday! So the 2023 trend is towards preserving the planet?
Dominique Bovet : Yes, we have just published our latest guide: zero or almost carbon travel. One of our authors went to Sweden by train. It took him 24 hours with advice for travelers who would like to make the same journey, entirely in the spirit of the special guide of Lonely Planet.
RFI : You have a front row seat to observe the new demands of travelers. Are you saying that the train has become the leading means of transport in Europe, better than the plane?
DB : Yes absolutely! Travelers are always asking for more trains to cross Europe. This follows the questioning of the explosion in plane travel low costinexpensive but which have proven to be very polluting.
RFI: Behind the scenes, in preparation, what new guides Lonely Planet ?
DB: France without a car is the title of our latest guide. There are ideas, once you get off the train, to transport yourself on foot, by bike… We are lucky in France to have a fairly extensive rail network to be able to make this kind of journey.
RFI: Themes reserved for other countries, the Electric Car Travel Guide
DB: Yes ! We judged that for France, the network of charging stations was not yet sufficiently provided. But this guide exists for North America, the USA and Canada and also for certain countries on the European continent.
RFI: In Africa or Asia, transport has undergone a revolution with connections that allow you to order your taxi or 2-wheeler on your phone. How did you adapt to it?
DB: It’s a complete transformation indeed! To give our readers the best ideas, we hire local editors who live in the country, but also, at the same time, authors who leave Europe and cross countries in Africa or Asia thanks to these new means of travel.
RFI: A good way to see the difficulties encountered on the ground!
DB: Exactly ! Above all, to share these difficulties and give advice on how to get around them; the guides Lonely Planet are made to give the best keys to travelers.
RFI: A trip that you particularly like?
DB: Recently one of our authors in Africa traveled by train through Tanzania and Malawi and it was a wonderful experience.
RFI: One of your personal pleasures, traveling to Japan…
DB: Perfectly, I like Japanese trains. Trains that are never late. On trains and stations in Japan you find a lot of catering services. You eat cuisine of incredible quality there.