Travel the world for free from your armchair with Wikivoyage

Wikivoyage, launched by the Wikimedia Foundation, is a new site that will provide travellers with information on destinations, restaurants, hotels and whatever users choose to create and update. In the same way that Wikipedia operates the content will be sourced from volunteer authors and travellers.

As described on Wikipedia, the site is “built through collaboration of Wikivoyagers from around the globe. Articles can cover different levels of geographic specificity, from continents to districts of a city. These are logically connected in a hierarchy, by specifying that the location covered in one article “is within” the larger location described by another. The project also includes articles on travel-related topics, phrasebooks for travellers, and suggested itineraries.”

The site has been up and running since September 2012, but according to a Cnet report, the official launch is provisionally set for 15 January. Following the format of Wikipedia, it will contain no adverts. Currently the site already has more than 25 400 articles featuring a destination of the month, travel photos and interesting articles on places not usually visited. It links to all the various Wiki related sites (Wikinews, Wikipedia, Wikibooks etc) and the format is exactly the same.

There are a plethora of travel sites on the internet, but something in the vain of Wikivoyage could ruffle a lot of feathers with an open source and advertising free setup. Wikipedia itself is already considered an essential source for gathering (mostly) trusted information, and the manner in which Wikivoyage will work, it is very well placed to become as influential as its older counterpart.