Geotourism Challenge Finalist: Wikiloc – Community Maps
Tuesday, 01 Sep, 2009
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Wikiloc is a Web 2.0 platform that allows local communities to show off geographic information of their territory to an international audience interested in Geotourism in an easy way.
The geographic information found in Wikiloc is unique since it comes from anyone who wants to participate including, but not limited to, government agencies, private companies and citizens. A teenager in the Andes has the same right to participate than a mountain bike club in the UK or the best outdoor company in the Grand Canyon. Schools, local guides or kayac enthusiasts are all part of the same community. No barriers nor filters. Everyone can participate freely and it’s the community who decides which content is the best.
In the technical side, Wikiloc may be seen as a "social Internet Mapping platform" that allows a virtual community to create and share their own geo-referenced information around the World, enabling the idea that everyone can create geographic information (Neo-Geography) using a web 2.0 approach
My passion for outdoor sports and software engineering drove me to start Wikiloc as a personal project back in 2006. I was looking for an easy way to share with friends the places where I had been traveling, hiking or mountain biking. That was by the time Google had just released Google Maps and Google Earth. It turned out that my needs where shared by many other outdoor enthusiasts and travelers worldwide. Soon many people started to create and share their own trails in Wikiloc. That was the beginning of the community. In September 2006, Wikiloc won the Google Maps Award to the best national Maps Mashup, and the media helped to present Wikiloc to a broader audience. I’ve been working improving the project since then and recently (Jan. 2009), Google perceived the content interesting enough to feature it in their flagship product, Google Earth, in a default preview layer (seen by all users).
I have been focused in the global site until a recently event about sustainable tourism where I had the opportunity to attend. I realized that there’s a common need for small communities to promote their territory. I was impressed with all the projects presented and with the hard work its coordinators where doing in this regard. I believe that Wikiloc may offer them an effective solution and at the same time involve actively those local communities.
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