Lonely Planet surveyed 2,000 travelers from the UK and Ireland on their most-likely travel destinations, and the USA was at the top:
Magazine Article Keyword: Guidebooks
Lonely Planet is opening up retail stores beginning with a concept store in Sydney International Airport in 2009:
BBC has bought Lonely Planet. The full story is here.
There is also a video release of the news from the Wheelers:
TheAge.com just ran an article an article on Lonely Planet's Haystack booking engine.