Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the founders of Lonely Planet, met on a park bench in Regent’s Park and for their honeymoon decided to travel overland across Europe and Asia en route to Australia. The story, told in the foreword of every one of their travel guides, was written up in a handbook called Across Asia on the Cheap. Published in 1973, it was trimmed and stapled by hand. The introduction contained the simple exhortation to the would-be wayfarer: “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” Suddenly, independent travel, once the preserve of the rich, was being sold to a broader market. Available only in Australia, where the Wheelers settled, Across Asia sold all 1,500 printed copies within a week and the couple realised that they could create a publishing business. South East Asia on a Shoestring – the book that really built Lonely Planet – was written by the Wheelers in a backstreet hotel in Singapore two years later – and a subsequent guide to India, one of four Lonley Planet titles to have sold more than a million, was the next filip.

In common with many successful independent media companies, the Wheelers rejected many bids in the 34 years that they owned the business. Lonely Planet grew successfully: it is close to printing its 100 millionth guide book, having passed the 80 million mark as recently as August 2006.

As the Wheelers grew older, and the impact of the internet took its toll, uncertainty crept in over the long-term future of the series. The Wheelers were already trying to take a back seat in the business, appointing a chief executive, and continuing to travel regularly. Tony Wheeler, after hearing President Bush’s “axis of evil” speech, headed off to Iraq, Iran and North Korea and published an account of his journey in Bad Lands: A Tourist on the Axis of Evil.

In the end, the sale process was as serendipitous as the original creation of the publisher. With the Wheelers finally prepared to look for a buyer, the BBC – newly active in Australia after investing in a television production business in the country – made an approach. The agreement to sell was reached relatively quickly, with the Wheelers content to hand over to a broadcaster they felt matched their liberal philosophy, rather than press for the highest price.

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