Since coronavirus has placed worldwide travel in a long-term holding pattern, the industry’s prime movers and shakers – airlines, hotels, tour operators – have been trying to find ways to generate income. Travel guide publishers, too, are faced with a problem – if hardly anybody is taking to the skies, booking a getaway or even going to the beach, who is going to buy a guidebook or travel app , no matter how brilliantly it has been put together? Two Hong Kong publishers have found their own solutions. At the age of 76, and with some 40 years of experience under his belt, Odyssey Guides’ Magnus Bartlett believes there is a desire for armchair travel despite the holiday standstill. Odyssey Guides’ first book on Peking (as Beijing was formerly known) was hammered out on manual typewriters and launched in 1979, just as China was starting to open up, when there was hardly any reliable information on the country or its capital. Bartlett swiftly capitalised on its success with guides to Canton (Guangzhou) and Shanghai. Four decades later, he is going stronger than ever, revising guides and working on a raft of new projects. From world’s biggest travel guide to losing its way “We published our first guide to Uzbekistan in 1996, and have sold more than 60,000 copies,” says Bartlett. “We’re completely rebuilding it from scratch, and the new edition will be ready by early next year. We’ve also revamped our Kazakhstan guide, which will be on the shelves this November. “Of course, coronavirus has more or less brought visiting Central Asia to a halt, but there is still a vast market for what I’d term ‘vicarious travel’. Odyssey has always concerned itself with the history of a place, and the narrative that’s involved, rather than something like ‘must-dos’.” Odyssey has, of necessity, become a slimline operation. Bartlett is based on bohemian Lamma Island and meets contacts in the China Club in Central, employs part-time staff who he’s worked with for years, or experienced freelancers, and partners with airlines, hotels and government agencies to cover basic costs. “This has to be the model for us – we have no overheads to speak of, and Hong Kong is not a major centre of English-language publishing like the United States, Britain or Australia,” says Bartlett. “As well as partners, we rely on advertising and special editions to balance the books, and anything that comes in from retail sales is a very welcome bonus. “We have not yet gone down the digital route, partly because of the expense that would involve and partly because I don’t think it’s the right medium for Odyssey, which is in-depth rather than ‘top 10’.” Next year, we are planning to publish a book on the Great Wall, combining some amazing drone shots with regular photography by William Lindesay Magnus Bartlett, Odyssey Guides Odyssey started out covering China, and has picked up the reins again profiling a country that’s since changed out of all recognition, notably with an illustrated coffee-table book, Shenzhen – China’s Southern Powerhouse . A companion volume, Pearl River Delta – China’s Greater Bay Area Illustrated , will go on sale this Christmas. “Next year, we are planning to publish a book on the Great Wall , combining some amazing drone shots with regular photography by William Lindesay who has been based in Beijing for many years. “For a time, we were publishing guides to off-the-beaten-track China, which were very successful. I didn’t follow up, which – commercially – was incredibly stupid of me. But now, with books on the Great Wall and what’s come to be called the Greater Bay Area , we’re redressing the balance. “I’ve made a living here in China for the bulk of my life, so in some ways I see what we’re doing now as payback.” Grant Thatcher launched Luxe City Guides in 2002. Known for their waspish writing, the breast-pocket-sized guides to all that was on trend in the world’s most happening cities quickly earned a reputation. Now based in Kennedy Town, a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood at the western end of Hong Kong Island, the company is led by 56-year-old Simon Westcott, who has previously played major roles at both Lonely Planet and the boutique hotel site Mr and Mrs Smith. Luxe has had to trim its sails to weather the coronavirus storm. “There’s no doubt about it, what’s happening now is unprecedented,” says Westcott, who oversees 30 print and digital guides to destinations in Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America and the Middle East. “I was in travel publishing during both September 11 and the worldwide financial crisis , so I’ve seen these kinds of paroxysms before, but this one is larger, deeper and more uncertain.” Luxe was an early mover in digital publishing, and its online guides are regularly updated – although slightly less frequently at the moment. “We stand out in two areas in particular,” says Westcott. “The quality of our curation, which has always been eclectic while sidestepping old-school luxury, and – something everyone responds well to – our arch and highly opinionated tone of voice.” How to read travel guides in a time of coronavirus Westcott readily admits that sales are hardly thriving. “People are not travelling, so naturally they’re not buying Luxe guides, so that core piece of our business is in shock,” he says. “But trading off our reputation, we are lucky that we have projects with a number of well-established business-to-business clients, some of which were already contracted. “We provide area guides for the Hong Kong Tourism Board, so they need updating, and also supply a strong content flow to some of Swire Group’s top-tier customers. We’ve just renewed a contract with Urban Resort Concepts, to supply insider recommendations for hotels like The PuLi in Shanghai, and we’ve also devised a complementary bilingual app that guests can download when they check in. “So in fact, compared to an operation like Lonely Planet, which is exclusively focused on travellers, we are very well protected.” One of the major problems Luxe faces is that the snazzy bar or restaurant it recommends one week could be forced to close by Covid-19 the next. “Absolutely right,” says Westcott. “So we have to work very hard to keep up to date. “For example, we provide an app for [insurance company and financial services provider] Manulife mapping out walking itineraries in cities like Hong Kong and Singapore, and we’ve been able to adjust them to provide more things to do outside, and reduce the number of cafes and shops where we’d have previously suggested stopping for a cuppa or some retail therapy.” Westcott concludes: “The questions everyone is asking are – will travel ever come back, and will it be the same sort of volume as before. At the moment, nobody can tell what the answers are.”