It is 50 years since Maureen and Tony Wheeler — she from Belfast, he from London — self-published a book called Across Asia on the Cheap, laying the foundation for one of the most remarkable enterprises of the past century.
Their first guide famously consisted of a print run of 1,500 stapled booklets with a pale blue cardboard cover but went on to become Lonely Planet, a subjective self-help book for independent travellers. It was produced after the Wheelers travelled overland to Australia via Europe, the Middle East, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Malaya, and Singapore and put their advice notes down on paper while they worked in full-time jobs in Sydney.
Lonely Planet has published 150 million copies of its guides, survived wars, digital revolutions, and pandemics which ended travel. Its Ukraine guide opens poignantly: “Big, diverse and largely undiscovered, Ukraine is one of Europe’s last genuine travel frontiers, a nation rich in colourful tradition, warm-hearted people and off-the-map experiences.”
While the service its authors offer has remained largely unchanged — accurate inside information, crisply delivered — what is changing dramatically is the nature of travel and tourism, partly because a mass industry threatens to kill the very attractions at its heart, and partly because of ever-rising anxieties about climate change.
This week in New York, which draws in 66 million visitors a year, rigorous new laws were implemented to severely limit the operation of Airbnb, with rules so tight that the company regards them as a “ban”.
The number of short-term lets has dropped by 70% since rental operators were required to register their homes. Legal challenges may follow. Meanwhile, Venice will trial a ticketing system from next spring which will charge day visitors to enter the city’s historic centre.
Whether such controls are maintained in the teeth of economic reality is a moot point. A government minister for the Canary Islands, Jessica de León, has warned locals to stop “demonising” tourists. Business arising from the sector delivers 35% of GDP.
Another problem not prevalent when Lonely Planet first started — the name itself is something of a misnomer in the era of ubiquitous ‘influencers’ and Tik Tok — is the impact of global warming and runaway population growth. With the summer of 2023 now categorised as the hottest ever have come rapid changes in the levels of pests once thought to have been put back in their box.
Paris — a warning here for travellers more focused on the efforts of Johnny Sexton and co. — is reporting a rapid rise in the incidence of bed bugs. And just to prove that the entente remains cordiale, the UK has highlighted a 65% increase in infestations year-on-year.
This is mainly blamed on travel and tourism returning to pre-pandemic levels but suspicion is also pointed to more people purchasing secondhand furniture from sites such as eBay and Facebook.
With the increasing temperature of our oceans more scary scenarios exist.
Marine biologists are fretting about surges in bacteria known as vibrio, which killed three people and made a fourth seriously ill after they swam in the waters of Connecticut and New York. As the geography of infectious diseases changes, our planet may seem to become a little lonelier each year. And the need for expert, and localised, advice will remain as high as ever.
It's hurting, but not working
A leading financial minister — John Major when he was chancellor of the exchequer in long-ago 1989 — once said of his attempts to squeeze out inflation: “If it isn’t hurting, it isn’t working.”
It is precisely the type of patronising generalisation that politicians peddle when they know they are up against it, and the thought returned this week when August marked the 23rd straight month where Irish consumer goods costs rose by at least 5%, according to the Central Statistical Office.
This is despite nine consecutive interest changes from the European Central Bank since July last year, with another one possible in October.
Excluding energy and unprocessed foods, the Consumer Price Index rose even higher — by 6.4% — with double-digit increases in housing, utilities, recreation, and culture.
Citizens are entitled to ask when we can see some light at the end of the tunnel, and question, also, whether the medicine is the right one. Squeezing money out of the system — placed there, in case we have forgotten by governments and state banks during the economic shutdown of 2020/21 — clearly does not solve the problem unless something more is done to control prices.
And in that consumers must play their part. Suppliers who continually levy increases, or reduce the scale of their offer, should be boycotted. There are many things we can do without. Sacrifice will be good for our pockets and remind businesses that the relationship is not a one-way street.
Just about the only good financial news of the week was the 10-12% price reduction for customers of Electric Ireland. That has to be placed in context. The company’s prices are approximately double what they were in early 2020 before covid and the war in Ukraine. And wholesale gas prices are 300% higher.
People have tried hard to reduce usage since Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion. That effort must not only be maintained, but increased, this winter.
Rock of ages
The potential to do many astonishing things is being attributed to artificial intelligence, but the key to eternal youth has not yet been cracked. Maybe next week.
Not that this will dismay The Rolling Stones, who have deployed the computational superpower for the promotional video supporting a new single, ‘Angry’, from their first album for 18 years.
Mick Jagger, 80, Keith Richards, 79, and Ronnie Wood, 76, used AI to synchronise the new lyrics to footage on billboards along Sunset Strip of them performing from long bygone days. The result is stunning.
They confirmed, also, that two songs on Hackney Diamonds, which will be on sale next month, will feature their late drummer Charlie Watts, who died in 2021 aged 80. But reworking lost tracks from dead artists is so last year.
In one initiative, the Stones have illustrated precisely why artists and actors are on strike to try to prevent their images being taken over, reworked, and exploited by studios in the decades ahead.
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