27 August 2008

Budget Travel Guide Goes Online

Many well noted US papers claim that they will be fully online and out of the paper business in the coming years, in the very near future. Are guidebooks taking a page out of papers future history?

FrommerÃ¢â¬â¢s is taking the first step, in getting off the paper and the page and in to guiding online. They debuted the 2008 editions of its paperback travel guides for New York, San Francisco, London and Paris in digital versions compatible with AppleÃ¢â¬â¢s iPhone ad iPod Touch.

The guides, available each on iTunes, offer travelers the restaurant and hotel reviews along with information on top attractions and sites, with multimedia enhancements such as interactive maps, web and phone links. Since the guides are stored locally, an Internet connection is not necessary to retrieve the data.

Frommer's is planning to release digital travel guides to additional top destinations by the end of the year. Several other guidebook companies plan to go online while they continue to go global.

ItÃ¢â¬â¢s a great way to go in this tech savvy, eco friendly environment. It may be a vintage thing, but isnÃ¢â¬â¢t the point of having a guide book is to take it with you one your travels throughout the day for a quick flip to gain immediate easy to access guidance or insight on the foreign fly?

If we are to go online for hotel reviews and restaurant reviews, which is what they are offering, we can go on any of the other insider city guides, hotel, restaurant and foodie sites for free.

FrommerÃ¢â¬â¢s may be the budget guide, offering cost effective ways to get the most bang out of your Euro, but check before you go in search of their guidance. It will cost you $9.95 for each guide. Be sure to budget it in.

By Karen Loftus