At 71, this is something that Philippe Gloaguen had never done before: embody, in a film, his own role as boss of the Guide du routard. The box will soon be checked: a feature film will soon put him on stage in his office, sending the unbooted a young guy “un peu glando” write the Guide du routard au Maroc.
“Then he has a whole bunch of adventures, Tintin style”, continues the boss, from his premises, installed in a quiet street in the Butte-aux-Cailles district, in Paris. We will not be exactly in the auteur film, rather in the bankable production of StudioCanal, with the maneuver Philippe Mechelen and Julien Hervé, screenwriters of Tuche and the last Asterix. Filming is scheduled for the end of the year.
Fifty years following the publication of the first guide, dated April 1973, this is a new way for Philippe Gloaguen to capitalize on the Routard brand, which he owns and has made fruitful in every way. Since its launch, Le Routard has been available in bags, walking shoes, magazines, insurance, board games, metal plates sold to referenced hoteliers, thrillers with inspired titles (False deals in Lisbon [Bertrand Delcour, 1999], In trouble at Petra [Gérard Bouchu, 2000])…
Editorial board
More or less successful developments in the long term (clothing and novels have been stopped), but which allowed him to take even more advantage of the success of his guides. Because Le Routard remains, to this day, an editorial hit. In 2022, according to Hachette Tourisme, its publisher, 1.9 million copies were published – “It’s five Goncourts a year”, says Philippe Gloaguen. That’s a lot, but it’s a little less than before, because the guidebook market has been falling slightly for ten years, with competition from social networks and the many sites offering travel advice.
Despite everything, the Backpacker continues to be number one in this segment, with, according to the company GfK, 30% market share in 2022 (and 22 million euros in turnover for Hachette). Behind them are Lonely Planet (Editis), with 20%, then Michelin (13%). The recipe has remained the same: local addresses at all price ranges, comments, anecdotes, “good tips”. And, above all, an immediately recognizable playful tone (if only by the use of the word “owl” all over the place). Top sellers in 2022 include guides to Corsica, Portugal, Lisbon, Venice, Rome and New York.
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