End of the road for 75 at Planet

TRAVEL guides publisher Lonely Planet is axing 75 jobs in its London and Californian offices after a sales slowdown in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks on the US.

The company, whose guide books regularly criticise London as being too expensive, is moving production to its Australian headquarters to cut costs. About 15% of its 550 global workforce are being laid off and there will be redundancies at its Kentish Town office.

The terrorist attacks have hit sales in the key American market and demand for guide books to Muslim countries tumbled. The company last year offered up to 500 staff the chance to take leave on reduced pay until sales picked up.

Co-founder Tony Wheeler, who began publishing the guides in the early 1970s after travelling overland to Australia through Asia, said the job losses were part of the most dramatic overhaul in the firm's history. Sales to June last year were $43.2m (£30m).