“The confidence of readers is the secret of our success”, assures Philippe Gloaguen, founder of the “Guide du routard”

It is the favorite travel companion of the French. Launched in 1973 by Philippe Gloaguen after a trip to India, The Backpacker’s Guide is now a veritable institution. A bestseller published every year in 2.5 million copies and which has sold 55 million copies since its creation. On the occasion of the fifty candles of the Backpackerits founder returns to 20 minutes on this incredible success story.

How did this whole adventure start?

Through a meeting with the great reporter Jean Lacouture when I was still a student. He was based in Egypt and discovered this country in conditions that no billionaire could have afforded. He knew President Nasser, went with the Minister of Archeology each time a tomb was discovered. He was close to the information and had an exceptional vision of Egypt. And in addition he was paid to visit these marvelous sites. I found it extraordinary, I who was the son of a teacher and my father worked eleven months in the year to pay for a month’s vacation in average conditions. So I wanted to become a journalist.

A magazine gave you this chance…

The magazine Current indeed which was at the time a reference. His boss Jean-François Bizot sent me to India at 18 to follow the mythical road to India. First by hitchhiking to Istanbul then by bus and train to Kathmandu, Sri Lanka. A trip of two and a half months alone from which I brought back a road book which was published on six pages. Already at the time, I had listed practical addresses that were not too expensive for a young clientele. The article did well with lots of feedback from readers. So much so that Jean-François Bizot offered to make me a guide.

A first guide giving birth in pain, isn’t it?

Oh yes ! The first Backpacker’s Guide was initially refused by eighteen publishers. I found it a little incomprehensible but for publishers there was a somewhat marginal connotation at the time. While I was passionate about Hinduism, Buddhism and I just wanted to discover nations and peoples that I did not know. A small publishing house, Gedalge, published it anyway in 1973. It did pretty well, but the publisher went bankrupt a year later. And that’s when Hachette asked me to offer me a collection of four books which came out in 1975. They were the first to sense that, with the advent of charters, a young and penniless clientele was eager of travel.

Sales of the guide then took off…

They were offered two or three guides the first year and the print runs continued to increase. In ten years, we reached one million copies sold each year, then two million in the 2000s. And we are now at 2.5 million.

In 50 years, the Backpacker traveled a lot. But has he traveled everywhere?

Of course not. For example, we will never go to North Korea with fifteen days of travel for fifteen months in jail. We are not going to take this kind of risk for our readers. There are also forbidden countries like Saudi Arabia, dangerous countries as is the case in Central Africa with jihadism. Or countries that are not in demand at all and where there is no infrastructure like Mozambique. I think we’ve covered about half of the countries in the world.

And what explains this success of the guide and its longevity?

The trust of our readers because our information is precise and regularly updated. This is the great strength of Backpacker’s Guide. We have a slightly playful tone with sometimes smiling and funny texts but behind all that, it’s reinforced concrete with a big organization. We have a team of 22 editors and 35 freelancers with an agency that organizes trips just for us. Over a year, it’s an average of 190 trips in France and abroad. We sell a lot of copies so we have the means to send people to destinations, it’s a virtuous circle.

How do your “investigators-browsers” work in the field?

They always go in pairs because some trips can be dangerous. One only focuses on writing and addresses while the other drives and checks routes. And when you arrive at an address, you never show up and you always pay the bills. The destination is then raked according to a now well-organized system.

Has competition from the Internet and social networks hurt you?

I have never been very worried. First because we have a website which works very well. And then we know very well how it happens on these travel sites or these blogs on the Internet. The first hotels or restaurants to arrive on the list are those that have paid the highest commissions. We are just the opposite. We do not tell readers anything because they are the ones who make us live and not the advertisers or the restaurateurs. We have created a very strong bond of trust with them. So I have no worries and our sales figures prove it. We suffered a lot during the Covid with an 85% decline, but today we have regained and even exceeded the level of sales of 2019.

How do you support this transition towards more sustainable tourism?

We have been aware of environmental problems for a long time. I was also the first to release in 2007 a Responsible tourism backpacker’s guide. I released it four years in a row, even if it was in deficit each time. And each time, we invite our readers to go somewhere other than mass tourism destinations like the Costa Brava in Spain. We prefer to talk to them about Galicia or Asturias, which are not very touristy and magnificent regions.

According to the sales of guides, what will be the key destinations of the summer?

There are always safe bets like Corsica, Brittany, Provence, the Basque Country. But we can feel an interest from young customers for inland France such as Auvergne or Lorraine. I was also a few days ago in Épinal which is a magnificent city. I am very happy to promote these terroirs that are sometimes a little forgotten.

Do you still have time to travel?

Of course ! I even travel more than before but I travel shorter. I leave approximately every five weeks and each time for nine days and over two weekends. I am not jaded far from it, I always take pleasure in being paid to travel and cultivate myself. There are always beautiful things to discover like this incredible restaurant at the water’s edge that I recently discovered in the Gulf of Morbihan.

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