Free Tourist Maps
The other day I was a given Tourist map. I don’t suppose it was much good to me, however, because it was of Georgia.
However, I did find it interesting. It was just a sheet of paper, a little bit smaller than A3, folded along five creases to create ten panels. It was packed full of information: the Geography, History and culture of the country; Georgia the home Wine, and the first Europeans; about the Argonauts of Greek mythology; cave dwellers; golden artefacts; the Black Sea; the Caucasus Range of mountains that stretch throughout the country; UNESCO World Heritage sites; the history of Christianity that has played such a major role in the history of this small country; the country’s National parks; as well as information about almost twenty different places throughout the country and practical information about visa requirements, transport, climate, currency and telephone communications.
As well as the map of the country, there was also a small map of the city centre of the capital, Tbilisi.
The one drawback was that it was in Russian.
It struck me, however, that the key thing about it was that it was FREE. It was clearly marked “Karta, ne dlya prodazha” – the Map is not for sale!
I am not sure where they are distributed, but back in Britain there are a host of such maps: at airports, railway stations, tourist information offices and elsewhere. Not quite everywhere that you turn … but almost. They are also given away at exhibitions and are available by post as part of the normal pack of literature.
This particular map was printed by the Tourism Department of the Ministry of Economic Development, (with financial support from USAID and the Eurasia Foundation).
I thought to myself, how useful such a map might be for us, here in Kyrgyzstan. We do have similar maps here in Kyrgyzstan, but they are produced by commercial companies – and are by no means free.
I was once in a meeting where one of the donor organizations proposed printing a Tourist Map of one of the oblasts, but the print run they suggested was small, and the talk was of selling the maps. I protested, and suggested that, instead, the print run should be much higher and that the maps should be given away. In support of my argument I asked what was the purpose of the map? If it was meant to be a commercial activity and the idea was to publish a map and sell it for a profit, then the donors shouldn’t get involved. I wasn’t sure how viable a commercial proposition it was anyway, how many of the existing maps are sold. If, on the other hand, it was meant to be a Destination Marketing tool, advertising the region and its attractions, then it was important to have as high a circulation and the widest distribution possible.
We do have a free city map of Bishkek, featuring the street layout in downtown Bishkek. It is the brainchild of an ex-pat, who finances it by selling advertising space for hotels, restaurants and shops. With three prints a year, it is already in its seventh edition. We have a stock in both the office and the hotel, and give it away whenever someone asks for directions to somewhere.
Unfortunately, unlike the map of Georgia, it is not packed with information, as the adverts which make the printing possible take up all the available space that could be filled with tourist information. Still, it seems to me to be a question of balance, a question which could be easily solved.
I am somewhat surprised, and a little disappointed, that it happens to be the result of an initiative of an ex-pat. To me, it seems to be the sort of thing that the municipality should be doing. It shouldn’t cost the tax payer anything – any more than it should the ex-pat anything. It could still be funded by adverts. The city could then decide what information to include, what sights they wanted to promote, which languages, (for example: Russian and English, and maybe other languages), they wanted to publish.
If the donors, (USAID, the Eurasia Foundation or any others), want to support the development of tourism in Kyrgyzstan, then I think that this would be a suitable pump priming activity that could and should prove to be useful: practical and sustainable.
Bishkek