Arthur Frommer, who rose to fame in the tourism industry after publishing Europe on 5 Dollars a Day in 1957 and later his namesake travel guides, has died. He was 95.
The author’s family confirmed the news in a statement on his official website on Monday, Nov. 18.
“It is with deep sadness that I announce my father, Arthur Frommer, founder of the Frommer’s guidebooks and Frommers.com, passed away today at the age of 95, at home and surrounded by loved ones,” his daughter Pauline Frommer wrote.
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Pauline remembered her father’s life as “remarkable,” adding that he “democratized travel, showing average Americans how anyone can afford to travel widely and better understand the world.”
“He published the revolutionary Europe on 5 Dollars a Day, the first in the Frommer’s guidebook series that continues publication today; he was a prolific writer, TV and radio host, and speaker; and in 1997, he was the founding editor of Frommers.com, one of the world’s first digital travel information sites,” she added.
After recounting Frommer’s career accomplishments, Pauline stated that she, along with others, would work to keep his legacy alive.
“I am honored to carry on his work of sharing the world with you, which I proudly do with his team of extraordinary and dedicated travel journalists around the world. We will all miss him greatly,” she concluded.
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Frommer’s stepdaughter, Tracie Holder, said he died at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan due to complications of pneumonia, the New York Times reported.
“This is a book for American tourists who a) own no oil wells in Texas, b) are unrelated to the Aga Khan, c) have never struck it rich in Las Vegas and who still want to enjoy a wonderful European vacation,” Frommer once wrote in his annually updated travel guides, per the outlet.
The author came up with itineraries that changed with the times, beginning with Europe on 5 Dollars a Day in 1957 to 2007’s Europe From $95 a Day.
His travel tips focused on saving tourists money. For example, when visiting Venice, he advised tourists to “stay away from gondolas” because “they cost as much as $3 an hour!”
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What began as self-published travel guides for Europe eventually expanded to a publishing deal with Simon & Schuster for New York, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Japan and 300 other destinations.
“Big rooms and amenities are all sheer nonsense,” Frommer told The Los Angeles Times in 2009 after previously calling out how many viewed Europe.
“You were told by the entire travel industry that the only way to go to Europe was first class, that this was a war-torn continent coming out of World War II, that it literally wasn’t safe to stay anywhere other than first-class hotels,” he told The Associated Press in 2007.
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Frommer was born in Lynchburg, Va., on July 17, 1929 to immigrant parents, and raised in Jefferson City, Mo.
In addition to Pauline and Holder, Frommer is survived by his second wife, Roberta Brodfeld, another stepdaughter named Jill Holder and four grandchildren.
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