Guide Book - Existing Products Research

Lonely Planet - Vietnam

'We've collected Vietnam's best sights, itineraries and local secrets into one easy-to-use package, carefully crafted by our experts.'


Contents:
- Plan your trip
- Hanoi
- Halong Bay
- Sapa
- Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
- Hue
- Hoi An
- Mui Ne
- Dalat
- Cat Tien National Park
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Con Doa Islands
- Mekong Delta
- Phu Quoc
- In Focus
- Survival Guide


With a target audience of those travelling with a disposable income rather than backpacking, this guide concentrates predominately on providing the reader with the information needed to be able to get a feel for each of the places in Vietnam. The guidebook offers information on sights, activities, shopping, eating and where to stay in each of the locations in Vietnam. The Lonely Planet is trusted and known to provide accurate information, something travellers would want when visiting a new country. 
In terms of information on the people & culture in Vietnam, this book offers a small section on the basic facts and observations commonly made. It is important for a traveller to go with a small amount of knowledge so that they do not disrespect any of the locals, but as this guide focuses more on the things to do in Vietnam I think this section may be overlooked or not the target audiences first priority to read. 


LUXE City Guide Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City

'The result of the work of more than 30 savvy, stylish, plugged-in resident curators who REALLY know their city.'

This guidebook is targeted to an audience who would have a fairly large disposable income to travel with, looking for the more exclusive experiences within a country. The book has a very chatty approach which would engage the 'trendy' reader that it is aimed at. If the reader engages with the friendly and engaging tone of writing, then they are likely to trust the suggestions and want to visit the particular recommendations that are made by the resident curators. The book also included the option of downloading the digital interface which allows for the user to access offline maps, geolocation and the main pieces of information.







Fragments of a Journey - Camille Palandjian

This is a zine-style printed publication made up of the photographs taken during a trip that she had to Berlin in February 2015. The book highlights, through different booklets, four fragments/impressions of the city. The sections are history, grandeur, transparency and the construction site. This is an approach that I could take when designing the layout of my printed publication. I could choose a small number of topics that I was most interested in or most want to talk about and then present them in a suitable order. I would like to have a lot of visual imagery and words that could spark particular thoughts rather than a lot of writing form me. I would, however, like to provide some accurate facts on the cultures and also my experiences throughout the publication. The booklets of this zine by Camille Palandjian all compliment each other, showing words directly related to the image presented.

'Together these four parts form a whole: Berlin'

Conclusion: The research into the different existing guidebooks on Vietnam have allowed me to see that there is already a high production of books with lots of content advising travellers on things to do, what to see and helpful tips based on that country. But, it seems as though attention to the culture of the country is overlooked, or given a very small section of the book. With a target audience of young backpackers, a low-cost printed publication would be most suitable as backpacking is a way of travelling often done on a budget. I think that the best way to inform someone about the people & culture found within Vietnam would be to create a zine which focuses on this one topic. As a zine is seen to be less official than a book, it allows for the topics and discussions to be more opinionated and based on the observations and lessons I learnt in Vietnam.