David Stanley lives on Vancouver Island, Canada and is author of Moon Handbooks South Pacific, Moon Fiji, and Moon Tahiti published by Avalon Travel Publishing of Berkeley, California. He instigated, researched and wrote the first three Lonely Planet editions of Eastern Europe on a Shoestring, the first two editions of Lonely Planet Cuba, and the first edition of Lonely Planet Canada’s Maritime Provinces.  Travel guides were thin on the ground when David began writing, he’s experienced the rise and fall of an industry now struggling in the shadow of the internet and admits that the future is bleak for anyone who still aspires to write for the big guys.  His personal website is www.southpacific.org.

MTF:The timing of your guide book writing career and your impressive back catalogue of publications indicates that you were certainly involved in the golden years of guide book writing. Do you think this era is over? and what if anything do you think will replace the dog-eared paper handbooks we all carry around?

For the guidebook writer, the golden era definitely is over. Most publishers now require their researchers to sign away all rights and work a flat fee without royalties. Those who demur don’t get a contract. These days, writing for Lonely Planet can be an interesting experience and may look good on a resume but only the publisher gets rich. In the early days, LP paid its authors 10 percent of the retail price and allowed them to keep their copyrights. But in 1996 LP began insisting on owning the copyright, and by 2000 they had switched to the fee-only model. That’s one reason I no longer write for them. My last LP book was Canada’s Maritime Provinces published in 2002, which I did for a fee because I needed an excuse to explore the region. I still write for Avalon Travel Publishing of Berkeley, California, one of the last large publishers which continues to pay royalties and allow authors to retain their copyrights.

Frankly, I don’t believe electronic gadgets and the Internet are going to replace dog-eared paper guidebooks. Most of the information available electronically is either paid advertising or travel tips from fellow travelers. In both cases, it’s often misleading and incomplete. It’s wonderful to be able to use Internet bulletin boards such as Tripadvisor and the Thorn Tree to do advance research, but these sources don’t provide an overall picture of every travel option out there. They tend to focus on the specific and are no replacement for a comprehensive travel guide. The hobby websites of those interested in sharing their travel photos and stories are also fun to visit and often provide useful snipets of information, but they almost always lack the quality control of a professional editor. So I expect the traditional guidebook to remain the independent traveler’s best friend for many years to come.

MTF: Your work on the first edition of Lonely Planet Eastern Europe on a Shoestring was complete in 1989 just six months before the Berlin Wall came down.  It was the only guidebook existing for that area at the time.  What are an authors best tools for exploring a place that hasn’t already been published? and how does that experience compare to travelling with an existing guidebook in hand?

I also spent much of 1980 and 1981 traveling in India, long before Lonely Planet came on the scene. I’d often go two or three months without seeing another tourist. The only guide I had was “A Handbook for Travellers in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (Ceylon)” published by John Murray, London. This classic guidebook first appeared in 1859, and the 22nd edition I used hadn’t changed much in the 20th century. It was full of references to the Indian Mutiny, and provided directions to the burial places of 19th century British soldiers, most of them sadly neglected. It was fascinating tracking down obscure locations of that kind and seeing the subcontinent through British colonial eyes. That sort of experience is entirely missed by those who follow contemporary guidebooks.

These days there are guidebooks to every country on earth, and I follow them myself when I travel. Without a guidebook you miss a lot and waste valuable time. And it’s usually very easy to get off the beaten track. Simply pick an area without tourist attractions or beaches and hang out with the locals. Even today, my most vivid travel memories are of places not usually covered in guidebooks.

MTF: As more people travel with laptops seeking out wifi spots and blogging on the road there is no doubt that information flow is increased. It’s often questioned whether or not technology pollutes the escapism that travellers seek in new destinations, disrupting communication with local residents and fellow travellers. How do you think the internet affects the travel experience these days?

The huge advantage of the Internet is that you can remain in daily contact with family and friends by checking email at Internet cafes found almost everywhere. This can sometimes be a distraction from the experience of wherever you are, but I think that the security of being in touch far outweighs that disadvantage. We are all free to use the Internet any way we like. When I’m traveling, I’m usually so wrapped up in what I’m doing that blogging and posting on Internet bulletin boards are pretty low priority for me.

MTF: Moon Handbooks South Pacific has recently gone out of print due to the economics of producing a book with a declining demand - It’s now available online for free as part of the google books catalogue.  Do you think that with the standard three year interval between guidebook editions publishers can still deliver reliable information in these times of rapid advancement? and is there any way they can compete with the wealth of up-to-the-minute information available on the online?

Actually, the 2004 edition of Moon Handbooks South Pacific is still in print and continues to sell well on Amazon. As you say, it’s now freely available on Google Books but it won’t be updated again. Competition from the Internet helped kill it, and after eight editions over 25 years, I was ready to retire. Avalon Travel Publishing and I are continuing with Moon Fiji and Moon Tahiti, and yes, they’re on three-year cycles. If they came out more frequently, returns of unsold copies of previous editions by bookstores and increased research costs would make the books uneconomic. How do they compare with the free information available on the Internet? Moon Fiji is conveniently packaged with 57 detailed maps, 389 pages of specific descriptions and listings, an index, and ample photos. Users get all that for US$19.95, or US$13.57 if they order online through Amazon.com. Considering the cost of just getting to Fiji, I consider that a bargain. Of course, some of the information in printed guidebooks will be out of date but there will also be a lot you won’t find on the Internet.

MTF: Publication dates of Moon Handbooks Fiji has been affected by military coups ever since the first edition was printed in 1985. You’ll begin work on the ninth edition next year. Do you think that country conflicts and political events covered by the media should deter people from travelling to those places, particularly Fiji given its apparent volatility?

Fiji’s fourth coup in December 2006 was the least disruptive as far as tourism was concerned. Tourists weren’t directly affected at all and they even benefited from discounted rates. I was in Fiji immediately after the May 2000 coup and rather enjoyed the exclusivity of being almost the only tourist in town. I never ever felt endangered. My experience has been that government travel advisories tend to err on the side of extreme caution and can be very misleading. Often only a small part of a country is potentially dangerous but the advisory will tell you not to go at all. Government travel advisories are often politically motivated and have no relation to facts on the ground. This was the case with the Australian and New Zealand travel advisories issued after the 2006 coup in Fiji. In that case, the real issue was that the Government of Australia lost political and economic influence in Fiji due to the coup and they used their travel advisory as a form of payback.

MTF: It is often said that development of high-end tourism is the best way for a country to benefit from its tourism industry, do you agree with this given the success of such projects as Tribewanted in northern Fiji that attract low-end expenditure but maximum community involvement and educate on environmental concerns?

Yes, high-end tourism certainly is more profitable and easier on the environment than quickie mass packaged tourism and I think we’ll see more emphasis on it in future. However, destinations must be careful to do this by offering higher quality products and not by imposing restrictions on visitors. Tribewanted was an excellent initiative which attracted much favorable publicity to Fiji and provided income for villagers in a far corner of Vanua Levu. Soon after the May 2000 coup, the Fiji Government realized that low-budget backpacker tourism could stimulate economic development in remote areas which had little to sell other than their spectacular environments and the genuine hospitality of their people. The small village-operated resorts which appeared up and down the Yasawa Islands chain have been a remarkable success. Check them out at http://www.fijibudget.com/ or consult pages 172-188 in Moon Fiji.

MTF: What do you most look forward to these days - the next adventure or spending time at home?

In 2003 my wife and I moved to Vancouver Island, Canada. We love it here and will never leave. I still try to make three trips a year to places I haven’t yet visited. In December, Turks and Caicos will become my 197th country. Next year I’m hoping to go to North-East Africa and Central Asia before beginning fulltime work on new editions of Moon Fiji and Moon Tahiti. Travel is one of life’s greatest rewards and I intend to reach all 49 countries and territories still on my to do list before I die.