Frommer's

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frommer's is a renowned travel guidebook series and the bestselling travel guides in America. The series began in 1957 with the publication of Arthur Frommer's revolutionary book, Europe on $5 a Day. Frommer's has expanded to include over 350 guidebooks across 14 series, as well as other media including the award winning Frommers.com website which covers over 3,500 destinations. In 2007, Frommer's will celebrate its 50th anniversary of guidebook publishing.

[edit] History

In 1957, Arthur Frommer, a young corporal in the U.S. Army, wrote a travel guide for American GIs in Europe, and then produced a civilian version called Europe on $5 a Day. The book ranked popular landmarks and sights in order of importance and included suggestions on how to travel around Europe on a budget. It was the first travel guide to show Americans that they could afford to travel in Europe. It was a revolutionary concept for the time and has been widely credited with opening the door to modern tourism and travel guidebook publishing, particularly for budget travel.
Arthur Frommer returned to the United States and began practicing law. During that time, he continued to write and also began to self-publish guidebooks to additional destinations, including New York, Mexico, Hawaii, Japan and the Caribbean. In 1977, Frommer’s trademark was sold to Simon & Schuster, Inc. After several subsequent sales the Frommer’s series was purchased by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2001. Arthur’s daughter, Pauline Frommer, is now writing her own series of travel guidebooks and continuing the Frommer’s travel legacy.