Lonely Planet Publications is one of the largest travel guidebook publishers in the world. After Let's Go Travel Guides, it was one of the first series of travel books aimed at backpackers and other low-cost travellers. As of 2008, it published about 500 titles in 8 languages, with annual sales of more than six million guidebooks.
The company name comes from a misheard line in "Space Captain," a song by Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. The actual words are "lovely planet" but Tony Wheeler heard "lonely planet" and liked it.
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