How Lonely Planet is winning the battle on social media

Thick guidebooks covered in stickers and torn in the corners used to be the tell-tale sign of a traveler. Although some tourists still are engrossed with words in print instead of the sites in front of them, many are now also staring at smartphone screens. Besides the obvious opportunity to share content online, the Internet also gives travel brands the chance to engage with the travelers reading their tips. It appears; however, that outside of forums, few brands are truly talking to their readers. Last month we launched our first data dashboard in beta, SkiftSocial,  read more about the launch here, and what it means for social media monitoring in the travel industry. Who's following who We ranked the seven most prominent guidebook companies on their social media presence. The companies, in order of their Twitter followers, are as follows: Company Twitter Followers Facebook Likes Lonely Planet 1,006,507 1,004,119 Frommers 285,752 24,065 Fodo