Lonely Planet's Tony Wheeler: My Travel Hotspots

Where have you come across the most intriguing cultures and people?

Papua New Guinea. More languages than any other country on earth (including some where women and men speak different dialects), amazing art, WW II wreckage, some of the best scuba diving in the world, and very few visitors.

What are the top American destinations Brits should visit?

Well Disneyworld seems to be where they all go. New York City (the most 'city' of all modern cities), San Francisco (I left my heart there), the Southwest (those amazing parks and desert landscapes of Arizona and Utah), and some of the great National Parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone.

What are your top tips to avoid holiday disasters?

Simple precautions such as photocopying your passport info page just in case it gets lost. Take another credit card or ATM card packed somewhere entirely different from everything else. And the most important big precaution of all - good travel insurance, not for minor spills and losses but for that once in several lifetimes real disaster.

Do you think low-cost budget airlines are a good thing?

Not for the environment, but certainly for some of the strange places they fly to.

Do you think that they will continue to be around in 10 years time?

If they are around in 10 years time I suspect they will be much more constrained and tightly regulated than they are at the moment.

Are you a fan of Antarctic tourism?

It's had far less impact on the region than scientific visits and national bases. Tourists haven't built nuclear power stations down there, shifted penguin colonies to make room for airstrips, left huge piles of junk and rubbish. It is strangely addictive, go once and you find you want to go again and again.

Which countries do you think have embraced tourism the right way over the last 30 years, and which have made mistakes? For example how do you feel about Eastern Europe marketing to stag-dos?

Stag-do operators and stag-doers would probably think they're a great tourism development. I think any place you care to mention would have a good and bad side.

I'm amazed how even a heavily touristed destination like Venice, a town which has become something like a high class Disneyland, a tourist destination rather than a real lived-in town, still has all sorts of quiet corners and come nightfall all the day-trippers disappear.

Tony and Maureen Wheeler's new book The Lonely Planet Story: Once While Travelling, out now, is a unique mix of autobiography, corporate history and travel book.

Whether you are interested in the exciting travel tales, the impressive business growth or the adventurous couple behind it all, an enthralling book of remarkable journeys, sure to inspire everybody who reads it.

The Lonely Planet Story: Once While Travelling (Crimson Publishing, 8th September) is available at all good bookshops, or buy it online for £9.99 direct from www.crimsonpublishing.co.uk.