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 travel services in 2018.
History
The first Rough Guide was ''The Rough Guide to Greece''.
In 1995, when Rough Guides were selling around a million books a year, Mark Ellingham entered into a pioneering agreement with HotWired Ventures, the digital offshoot of Wired Ventures, the then-publisher of
WIRED
Wired may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976
* ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993
* ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017
* "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street''
* "Wired ...
magazine. The deal offered free online access to the full text of ''The Rough Guide to the USA'' via the World Beat section of
HotWired
''Hotwired'' (1994–1999) was the first commercial online magazine, launched on October 27, 1994. Although it was part of the print magazine Wired (magazine), ''Wired'', ''Hotwired'' carried original content.
History
Andrew Anker, Wired ...
. Ellingham stated at the time that publishing the guides online would facilitate easier updates. "If you could send me an e-mail from Senegal saying this hotel's closed down, I would just key it in," he told the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. "The online book would take on a life of its own".
In May 2007, Mark Ellingham said he had grave concerns about the growth of air travel because of its growing contribution to climate change. He launched an awareness campaign with
Tony Wheeler
Tony Wheeler (born 20 December 1946) is an English-born Australian publishing entrepreneur, businessman and travel writer, co-founder of the Lonely Planet guidebook company with his wife, Maureen Wheeler.
Wheeler was born in England. His fath ...
(
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History
20th century
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...
founder), and Rough Guides began including a "health warning" in each of its travel guides, urging readers to "Fly less, stay longer". In November 2007, after celebrating "25 Rough Years" with a series of celebratory books, Ellingham left Rough Guides to set up a new imprint, GreenProfile, at
Profile Books
Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current events, current affairs, travel and popular science.
Profile Books is distribu ...
.
Personalised trips
In November 2018, Rough Guides launched a personalised trip service.
Awards
From 2017 to 2020 Rough Guides ran an award-winning podcast,
The Rough Guide to Everywhere'. Started by Greg Dickinson, the podcast explored topical travel issues, and showcased interviews with travel personalities. In 2019, series 4 of ''The Rough Guide to Everywhere'' (hosted by former senior editor Aimee White) was awarded Bronze in the Best Branded Podcast category at The British Podcast Awards.
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Travel guide books
Publishing companies of the United Kingdom
British travel websites
Publishing companies established in 1982
World music
1982 establishments in England
2002 mergers and acquisitions
2017 mergers and acquisitions