SURPRISING how readily Northern Ireland folk can forget their lowly roots
when they hit the big time!
Take the founder of the Lonely Planet travel guide empire, Maureen Wheeler,
whose company have just launched a "revolutionary new travel pictorial", THE
TRAVEL BOOK - A journey throught every country in the world, boasting
coverage of every country on the planet. (And it is, actually. It's a
beautiful publication - full colour, breathtaking photography and it's the
perfect Christmas present...)
Only thing is, for Northern Ireland readers - Northern Ireland has been,
kind of missed out. So although we have a stunning double page spread of
Bahrain, Barkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there's only
a small mention of us somewhere on the same page as the Republic.
Strange
But having said that, the USA is stuffed on a double page as well. Although
strangely, the UK received the honour of being broken up into England,
Scotland and Wales. But what? No Norn Iron? What about the Giant's Causeway?
Holywood Road, Belfast-born Maureen Wheeler, now heads a multi-million pound
travel publishing business, in fact the world's largest travel information
company - the renowned Lonely Planet.
She also received an Honorary Degree from the University Ulster and was
voted Business Woman of the Year in 2001 - this and the fact that Lonely
Planet makes over $80 million per annum certainly proves that leaving a
secretary post in Belfast proved to be a bit of a wise move.
What makes the apparent oversight all the more strange was something Maureen
said in a recent interview with Northern Ireland Travel News. She said:
"Belfast is so vibrant and I'd love to do a book on it. It is tourism's last
best kept secret."
Maureen said that because of the current decline in people travelling that
it would not be economically viable for Lonely Planet to publish a book on
Northern Ireland (which has a section in Lonely Planet's Ireland book).
"I presented a slot for an Australian travel programme - which I was awful
at. I was the worst presenter in the world but when they approached me I
agreed on the condition that they covered Northern Ireland. I keep telling
people how beautiful it is but it's not until they see the country here that
they believe it.
"The thing about Northern Ireland is that it can offer a complete tourist
experience. It is untouched by tourism, unlike say Dublin, and most of the
people living here are native so what the tourist sees is real Northern
Ireland."
Anyway, maybe next time.
The book itself though, really is a stunning piece of work. It contains some
1,200 images, 98,000 words and covers 230 countries.
Lonely Planet's Specialist Publisher, Roz Hopkins, said of the new title:
"Each country, large or small, is featured, and we have sought to evoke the
destination through a unique mix of images and original text.
Pictures
"The effect is a series of tantalising glimpses, which somehow gather their
own momentum with every page turned, combining to present an awesome picture
of our vast and kaleidoscopic world."
And it's very true. The gorgeous book does steer away from the traditional
'bungs' of the Grand Canyon and close ups of the statues on Easter Island,
and instead gives readers stylish snapshots of what you might see round the
corner of the Grand Canyon. Or behind the statues on Easter Island.
"The guiding philosophy for us in writing this book was to present a
subjective Lonely Planet view of the world which gets under the skin of the
place, showing a slice of life in every single country in the world," said
Hopkins.
"We wanted to evoke the spirit of the place by focusing on the senses - what
you might expect to see, what you might hear people say in conversation or
greeting, what kind of food and drink you can expect to taste, and what sort
of music, books or film will help you open your imagination to each
country."
Effect
And the overall effect is extremely good. It's the sort of book you could
pick off a shelf and forget yourself flicking through for hours. One thing I
liked in the Ireland source of foods you can be expected to taste was
Kimberly biscuits - how true - but one qualm I would pick up was the main
Ireland picture.
France got a Parisienne dance studio, China got the Spice Markets, Monaco
got a wow-factor shot of the harbour at Monte Carlo - but what did Ireland
get? A double page spread of some wee ginger girl's face, described as "the
radiant Celtic features of a young Dubliner".
Come on guys. Ireland is a lot more cosmopolitan than that. And so is the
North.
The Travel Book is on sale now in hardback, priced at £40.

BY DAWN WATSON