To our fabulous readers, Well, 2020 has been a tough old year so far…
In April, Hilary and I wrote a rallying cry to those who have followed Bradt Guides over the years, and I thought you, as a keen traveller and Bradt reader, might appreciate hearing how we’ve fared since then.
When Covid hit, our sales dropped by 95% overnight: shops were shut, everybody was house-bound and the last thing on anyone’s mind was booking a holiday. Our rallying cry asked those who enjoy our guides to take advantage of a special discount we were offering, and by doing so to support Bradt through a time more precarious than any in our 45-year history.
And everyone rallied in a way that went well beyond our wildest hopes! April sales through our website smashed all records. Furthermore, we were overwhelmed with emails of encouragement – correspondence from people who love the type of travel we love, and wanted to tell us about memorable trips they’d taken and which of our books they’d used. These messages lifted us in a way that nothing else could – I’ve included a handful of them below my own message here. We’re so grateful to those who got in touch. |
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| Alive and kicking – just!
Six months on – thanks to you – we’re still alive and kicking. Of course, as yet, things are far from easy. Sales of our guidebooks are still a fraction of what they were, we’ve had to postpone much of our publishing programme, and, sadly, we’ve been forced to make a few redundancies. But the crisis has also inspired a flurry of ideas and initiatives: We’ve launched The Travel Club with its own colourful monthly e-zine and various tiers of rewards. This started off as a way for travellers to offer us regular support during the crisis, but is developing into THE club for anyone serious about travel, with free books and benefits from our travel partners more than offsetting the cost of membership. If you’re not already a member, do please take a look. We’ve established a contract-publishing imprint called Journey Books, providing an alternative to self-publishing for those with a travel tale to tell. This has allowed us to sign up some fascinating books that we’d never have been able to publish otherwise. Look out for them on our list next year! And if you have a travel book idea of your own, do get in touch. Hilary Bradt led a hugely successful crowd-funding campaign to enable us to publish her guide to the Yemeni island of Socotra. We released a number of brand-new titles that aren’t dependent on overseas travel, among them The Travel Quiz Book by Daniel Austin and The Traveller’s Colouring Book by Varvara Fomina. We’re very pleased with how these have turned out – they’re really lovely books. And to support Daniel’s book, we’re running The Great Bradt Travel Quiz on Zoom on 19 November. Do please join us if you can. Or, if you live in London, there will be a live event at Stanfords bookshop in Covent Garden the night before. While most of our staff have been on furlough, a small team has been working night and day (on reduced salaries) on these projects. It’s been quite an undertaking. I’m so proud of them. |
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What does the future hold?
Who’s got the crystal ball?! We can’t rely on international travel returning in any meaningful way for a while, and we’ll have to box clever until then. However, we do expect countries to be more prepared for tourism next season. And, longer term, our sense is that there will be a shift towards the more responsible, experiential and considered travel that we have always championed. We believe we’ll be stronger on the other side of all this.
But the next few months are likely to be particularly lean, and so – with apologies for the little sales pitch! – I wanted to remind you that we are here, invite you to check out all the fantastic books on our website, and tell you about the autumn discount we’re offering for the next couple of months.
Enter the code THANKYOU35 at the checkout in our online shop and claim 35% off your order! (And our new travel quiz and colouring-in books make pretty good Christmas gifts, if I do say so myself…)
That’s more than enough from me. I hope that you and your family are safe and well – and ready to travel with passion and curiosity once more, whenever that time comes. |
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Best wishes,
Adrian
Adrian Phillips, Managing Director |
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Thank you for your kind messages – here are just a few of them!
I should be thanking you for the fantastic job everyone at Bradt does at putting together such comprehensive guides and going places where others do not. Your guides are worth every penny, and as an avid traveler myself (been to around 75 countries to date) if I can’t travel now due to COVID 19, reading your guides are the next best thing! Peter
As an avid Africa traveler, I wouldn't know what to do without your books. So you guys better make it through these tough times! Sara
We are big fans of Bradt guides. The level of detail is excellent compared to other guides. Everything it written from the perspective of travellers with curiosity and empathy for destinations as opposed to tourists. They are always very well written and worth reading even if one can’t actually visit the destination in question. Ray
Supporting Bradt during this challenging time feels like the very least I can do. I love the small, personal nature of the company as well as its quirky views on travel and its general ethos, championing the concept of ‘Slow Travel’. I think it is the very personal nature of the company that maintains the loyalty of its readers, contributors and supporters. Joanna
The message I wanted to convey to you and your team is simply that I love your books, they books really matter to me and that this is the perfect time to show my gratitude and support. If one doesn‘t want to wake up after this crisis in a cultural desert, then this is the time to act. Jens
I live in Essex and bought my first Slow Guide recently, the one on Suffolk, just one county up from me. I think it's magnificent. As soon as this lockdown starts easing up I'm going to be up there every weekend, with your guide in my hand. Your Slow Guides are a huge asset. More people should know about them. Andy
I fell in love with Bradt guides when I came across the first one and have since bought several from local bookstores, two of my recent best being Senegal and Ghana. I'm honored to be able to help your business and I actually rely on you guys for the better travel experiences I seek. As a matter of fact, I can't wait for you to publish guides to even more countries - all of them! Alex |
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