Citymaps, has come out with a slew of new updates as it adds what chief executive Elliot Cohen, called the final piece in its plan to offer customized maps for the traveling set.
With the update, the New York-based digital mapmaker is offering curated guides that lists potential places of interest for users, and it lets users download these curated maps and access them in areas where internet access is spotty or non-existent.
The “CityGuides” that the company has created grab information from WikiTravel and pair it with customized maps created by some of the company’s 200 publishing partners in the travel and leisure space to create what amount to digital guidebooks for its users.
Some partners that Cohen’s tourist-friendly maps are pulling from include Travel + Leisure and the wildly popular New York Times column 36 Hours column.
Going beyond guides, the app update also lets travelers buy tickets for events through another integration with the ticketing provider Viator.
“Offline maps is one of the most important and the final piece in completing our travel map platform,” says Cohen. “All of the features have been available online but when 80% of travelers don’t have a data plan when they travel something needs to be done.”
In development for over a year, Cohen said that the app stores have been unanimous in their praise of the new update.
“We wanted to build something that is able to give users peace of mind when it comes to roaming charges and Internet connections, especially while traveling or underground,” said co-founder and chief executive Elliot Cohen in a statement. “We know that 60% of the world doesn’t have Internet –and that access to data can still be extremely spotty and expensive.”
Furthermore, the CityMaps new feature is built entirely on proprietary technology, and its achievements were persuasive enough, and its market big enough to convince the former chief executive of HereMaps, Michael Halbherr, to join its board of directors as chairman.
Currently roughly 1 million travelers each month are getting guidance from the company’s customized maps.
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