Information on Wayanad, just a few click away

KOZHIKODE: Wherever you go in Wayanad, he will be there to guide you. Meet the ‘Man’, the online tour guide icon of a new geo-tourism application using the GIS (Geographic Information System) technology.     The application was developed by the Mapview Geographical Solutions based in Kozhikode.    Accessing the application through the portal tour.mapview.in using a web browser, one can organise himself to explore Wayanad with a few mouse clicks. All he has to do is to place the ‘Man’ icon on the desired location on the map and click for the related services. Just click for hotels in the food and accommodation menu and a number of hotels at the spot will pop up on the map, showing exact locations.   For detailed information about a specific hotel, click on the specific result on the map.Similarly, tourists can have information regarding tourist spots, hospitals, clinics, restaurants, entertainment centres, offices, business centres, places of worship, police stations, bus stops, taxi stands and the like from the portal.  This apart, the portal provides details on weather, culture and environmental aspects.The geo-tourism portal is the first-of-its-kind initiative in the state and will lessen the worries of tourists for planning, according to Mifthas Haris, director of the Mapview Geographical Solutions. “On the occasion of the World Tourism Day, which falls on September 27, we are presenting a fillip to Keralatourism. Though we have a number of tour websites, none of them offer detailed information. Majority of the websites feature photographs of locations and a few information. This often affects the planning of tourists as well as operators.This new web application gives a real life experience of Wayanad, which will help tourists make a proper planning and to make the most of their holiday times,” he said.According to him, Mapview is presently working on to develop a mobile application of the portal. “The mobile application will be more helpful for the tourists to locate information regarding various services at a particular point in Wayanad. If you reach somewhere in Wayanad and need to know whether there is a temple or church in the area, you can simply find out from your cell phone itself,” Mifthas said. He added that more information about Wayanad will be uploaded in the portal every day.Mapview is now in the process of preparing a database to launch a similar web portal of Kozhikode. Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar will officially launch the portal at a function to be held in Wayanad on November 5. Mapview has done similar projects for the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Transport, Saudi Arabia.