Lonely Planet Wins Fourth-Consecutive Webby Award

Lonely Planet Wins Fourth-Consecutive Webby Award ‘People’s Voice’ honours go to Lonely Planet, again!

MELBOURNE, AU (May 17, 2005) – Lonely Planet has won its sixth Webby, including its fourth-consecutive ‘People’s Voice’ award, for best travel site at the 2005 Webby Awards.

Other nominees in the travel category were Flightmaker (2005 overall Travel category winner), AOLCityGuide, GoCityKids.com and Orbitz.com.

“The competition in the Travel category is fierce,” said Scott McNeely, Lonely Planet’s online digital publisher. “Some of the other nominees, including Orbitz and America Online, have more overall traffic than LonelyPlanet.com. Yet our users clearly feel a deep sense of community with Lonely Planet. The ‘People’s Voice’ award is gratifying recognition of that achievement.”

The judges noted the sense of community that exists on LonelyPlanet.com. They said: “This is a tremendous honour indicating the highest level of loyalty and commitment from your site’s visitors. You should be extremely proud of your accomplishment. After doing this for nine years, we are always awed by how the websites keep getting better, pushing the envelope, and explaining the impact of the web. Thank you and your team for creating brilliant work for us to admire and honour.”

Established in 1994, LonelyPlanet.com is a leading online resource for inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world. Visitors to the site can research thousands of destinations around the world, exchange travel advice and opinions with a loyal community of 250,000 registered members, get briefed on worldwide events and global travel issues, read blogs and in-depth reports from Lonely Planet authors on the road, and book everything from adventure travel to unique hotels to round-the-world air tickets. Site visitors can also purchase from the complete Lonely Planet book catalogue. LonelyPlanet.com receives more than 5.5 million visits a month.

The Webby Awards recognize outstanding achievement for the web in content, quality and expertise in 30 different categories. The Webby Award nominees were selected and voted on by members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The general public determines the ‘People’s Voice’ award.

The 9th Annual Webby Awards will take place in New York City on Monday, June 6, 2005.

##### About Lonely Planet Lonely Planet creates and delivers the most compelling and comprehensive travel content in the world, giving travellers trustworthy information, engaging opinions, powerful images and informed perspectives on destinations around the globe.

While known primarily for its 600+ travel guidebooks published in 17 languages, Lonely Planet also offers an award-winning website, photographic image library, television production and distribution and digital travel content licensing. With a global staff of over 400, Lonely Planet is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, and has regional offices in London and the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information about Lonely Planet, visit our website at www.lonelyplanet.com.

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