English-born Australian publishing entrepreneur, businessman and writer Tony Wheeler has won the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing.
Co-Founder of Lonely Planet, Tony has been described as “the trailblazing patron saint of the world’s backpackers and adventure travellers” by New York Times Magazine.
Tony and his wife Maureen wrote the first Lonely Planet book in their garage in Sydney in the 70s, after an inspirational hippie trail trek from London, across Asia to Australia. Five decades later, over 145 million guide books have been sold in 11 different languages.
Simon Calder accepted the award on behalf of Tony, who lives in Australia. The award was presented by Hilary Bradt – a previous winner of this award – at a ceremony in London.
