Isn't there a category confusion here between inspiration and planning?
Classifying travel guides as merely a sub-part of fictional inspiration ignores their primary function of concrete materialization.
Fiction creates a vague desire, an aspiration; the guide translates this dream into itineraries, budgets, and real visiting conditions, like knowing if my German permit is valid for driving in Vietnam.
A guide can even generate the desire to travel through its presentation of unique destinations and practical experiences, long before any romantic influence.