Lonely Planet Wins Gold for Second Year Running

FEBRUARY 26, 2003 | MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Lonely Planet Publications is proud to announce that its 2nd edition of Bhutan by Stan Armington has won the Gold Award for the best Travel Guidebook in the 2003 PATA Gold Awards.

The announcement was made yesterday by The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) whose panel of international experts selected the winners from over 310 entries. The categories considered for the awards include industry, marketing, environment, heritage and travel.

Lonely Planet's 2nd edition of Bhutan describes itself as "opening the door to the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom". Armington worked closely with the local Bhutanese to ensure the guide was as accurate as could be. He says, "I received an enormous amount of assistance with research for this edition from both Bhutanese and expatriates in Bhutan. Everyone was eager to help make this book accurate, not necessarily to attract more tourists to Bhutan, but to help readers come to understand this tiny little-known and often misunderstood Buddhist Himalayan kingdom".

Armington lives in Kathmandu and is an award-winning author and the director of the American Himalayan Foundation. This is not Armington's first PATA award. His Lonely Planet guide Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya (8th ed) won the Pacific Asia Tourism Association's 2002 PATA Gold Award.

The winners will receive their awards during the 52nd PATA Annual Conference in Bali, Indonesia, April 13-17, 2003.

For more information please contact:
Emma McMahon, Marketing Communications Coordinator, Lonely Planet Publications.
ph: 61 3 8379 8000 or Email: Emma.McMahon@lonelyplanet.com.au