Insight Guides, founded by
Hans Johannes Hofer, is a
travel
Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical Location (geography), locations. Travel can be done by Pedestrian, foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without Baggage, luggage, a ...
company based in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
with offices in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and Warsaw. It sells customised
package tours as well as
guide book
A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...
s. It also produces travel books, maps,
globe
A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...
s, and travel gadgets for travelers.
In 2018, packaged tours represented 18% of revenue.
History
Hofer's first book, published in 1970, was based on the island of
Bali
Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
, and was funded by a local hotel. From there, he created over 400 guidebooks to over 100 destinations. The Insight Guides branding was first used in the 1980s.
Following its focus on Asian guides during the seventies, the company expanded into the Americas in the eighties. Insight Pocket guides were launched in 1991. In the late 1990s, he sold his shares of the company to
Langenscheidt
Langenscheidt () is a German publishing company that specializes in language reference works. In addition to publishing language, monolingual dictionary, dictionaries, Langenscheidt also publishes bilingual dictionaries and travel phrase-books.
...
KG.
In 2014, Insight Guides and
Berlitz Corporation
Berlitz Corporation is a language education and leadership training company which is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1878 by Maximilian Berlitz in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States. Berlitz Corporation is ...
Publishing were sold by Langenscheidt to APA Publications.
[ In 2016, the company began bundling digital media with purchases of print products.
In 2017, APA bought ]Rough Guides
Rough Guides is a travel company that offers tailor-made trips planned and arranged by local travel experts based in destinations around the world. Originally established as a guidebook publisher in 1982, Rough Guides expanded into customized t ...
from Penguin books.
Products
Books
Insight Guides combines photos with magazine-style features written by locals.
Website
Insight Guides offers bookable trips planned by locals who live in their destinations. Travelers use the website to select where they want to go and then choose from the various trip itineraries on offer. Travelers can then either book the itinerary as it is or customise it.
Podcast
Insight Guides runs a podcast called ''Insight Guides: The Travel Podcast'', which was launched in May 2019 and is hosted by Zara Sekhavati. The first episode was about the history of the Panama Canal.
Mobile app
Insight Guides offers the Insight Guides Walking Eye mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
, which is offered free with the purchase of a travel guide.
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.insightguides.com/
Atlases
Cartography
Travel guide books