NEW YORK – Arthur Frommer, the travel writer who turned his guidebooks into a global brand serving millions of budget-conscious tourists before the internet ravaged the print industry, has died.
Frommer died on Monday at his home in New York City from complications of pneumonia, according to The New York Times, who cited his stepdaughter Tracie Holder. He was 95.
The former US Army soldier, whose business began with The G.I.’s Guide To Travelling In Europe at 50 US cents apiece in the mid-1950s, became a household name for any vacationer seeking an affordable trip abroad. His namesake series expanded to include about 350 titles selling 2.5 million guides each year, according to a company statement in 2010.
“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 wrote in Europe On 5 Dollars A Day in 1957.
Five decades later, inflation had updated that title to Europe From $95 A Day, but the search for a more authentic alternative to luxury travel continued, with competitors such as Lonely Planet and Let’s Go flourishing. Even after he sold the rights to his business, Frommer wrote newspaper columns, hosted a radio show and posted a daily blog with the latest travel tips.
“I have always felt that the less you spend, the more you enjoy,” he said in a 2009 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “The moment you put yourself in a first-class hotel, you become walled off from life, in a world devoted to creature comforts.”
Ownership moves
Frommer, whose favourite city was Paris, bought back the rights to his travel guides in 2013 after decades serving as a consultant to various owners. The last of those was Google, which held the trademark for less than a year and sold it to Frommer for an undisclosed price.
Demand for printed travel guides has waned in recent years as travellers turned increasingly to online services such as TripAdvisor and Yelp for reviews and advice.
Born on July 17, 1929, in Lynchburg, Virginia, Frommer grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, where his father, Nathan, worked in a clothing factory. His mother, Pauline, was Polish-born and taught him to speak Russian.
The family moved to New York when Frommer was 14. He attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, where he edited the school newspaper, and worked for Newsweek magazine as an office boy. He then studied at the University of Missouri, but transferred to New York University, majoring in government, when his mother became ill.
Travelling soldiers
In 1953, Frommer earned a law degree from Yale University, where he edited the law journal. Serving in the military in Germany, he was assigned to US Army Intelligence, partly because of his ability to speak Russian. There, he conceived his travel guide for soldiers eager to see other European countries.
Frommer returned to New York, where he worked in a legal firm while continuing to research his guidebooks during vacations. He found a distributor for the 5,000 copies of Europe On 5 Dollars A Day that he had printed and they sold out fast. After developing more than 50 titles, many of them 5 Dollars A Day spin-offs, he began to hire writers for his guides.
In 1961, he set up a wholesale tour operator called $5 A Day Tours Inc, which then became Arthur Frommer International Inc, one of the US’ biggest travel companies. He was chairman until 1981, according to an online biography.
Frommer sold his trademark to book publisher Simon & Schuster in 1977. The brand was owned by Pearson Plc and IDG Books during the 1990s and then by John Wiley & Sons until Google acquired Frommer’s for US$23 million in 2012.
“Travel is the best of learning activities,” Frommer said in an interview with the Yale Law Report in 2005. “You should travel in a state of humility, asking more questions than making points.”
Frommer lived in New York with his second wife, Roberta Brodfeld. With his first wife, Hope Arthur, he had a daughter, Pauline, who continued the family legacy with her travel books. Hope Arthur died in 2017. BLOOMBERG
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