Arthur Frommer, the influential travel guidebook author and founder of the Frommer’s brand, has passed away at the age of 95, as confirmed by a statement from his company. His daughter, Pauline Frommer, shared that he died on November 18, at his home, surrounded by family and loved ones.
Born in Virginia in 1929, Frommer attended Yale Law School and served in the US Army during the Korean War. His passion for travel and languages led him to write a self-published guidebook for fellow soldiers, which gained popularity and prompted him to write his first major book, Europe on $5 a Day.
This book marked the beginning of his long career in travel publishing. Frommer founded his company, Frommer’s, in 1957, starting with a series of guidebooks. Over the years, the company expanded into a wide range of media, including online content, newsletters, podcasts, and more. Frommer continued to write, travel, speak at conferences, and give interviews well into his 90s.
For Arthur Frommer, travel writing was about much more than just recommending hotels or listing famous tourist sites. In his essay “How Travel Changed My Life,” Frommer explained that travel taught him a profound lesson: despite the many differences in culture, language, religion, and dress, all people share fundamental similarities. “We all have the same urges and concerns, we all yearn for the same goals,” he wrote.
His Frommer’s guidebooks introduced a new way of traveling to a generation of post-World War II Americans, moving away from the traditional “Grand Tour” of Europe and towards more accessible experiences like staying in youth hostels, sampling street food, and immersing themselves in local neighborhoods.
Frommer firmly believed in the transformative power of travel to combat prejudice. He argued that those who demean or misunderstand others have not learned travel’s true lessons. “Those who patronize other people, or demonize those with whom we disagree, are foolish indeed,” he wrote. “They have not yet learned the lessons of travel.”
The Frommer’s brand changed ownership several times over the years. In 2012, Google acquired the company but sold it back to Arthur Frommer just a year later.
Pauline Frommer, his daughter, now serves as the co-president of FrommerMedia and editorial director of Frommer’s Guidebooks. In a statement following her father’s death, she paid tribute to his legacy, saying, “Throughout his remarkable life, Arthur Frommer democratized travel, showing average Americans how anyone can afford to travel widely and better understand the world.”
Arthur Frommer passed away on November 18 from complications related to pneumonia. His daughter noted that his writing and philosophy helped people become more empathetic and connected to the world, helping to “erase distance” and make individuals “more sensitive citizens of the world, yearning for peace everywhere.”