Catching up with Amazon.com, which has just launched new online bookshop sites for Germany and Britain, will be costly for Bertelsmann but its increased Internet presence is bound to add to the overall marketing effort put into book sales.

ECONOMIST: Frankfurt book fair

To top it off, the shrinking bookshop landscape made it more difficult to browse and buy guidebooks, driving more travellers online.

BBC: Is this the end of the guidebook?