Avoiding Tourists Map
If you’re like me, you like to vacation without the hassles of crowds. Alternately, maybe you prefer to be where the action is. Either way, someone has created a map to show you where the tourists are most heavily concentrated:
FP’s Joshua Keating explains:
Looking to avoid the crowds this summer? Check out this tourist density heat map (click the link for the interactive zoomable version) designed by Bluemoon Interactive. The map uses the number of photos from a given location uploaded to Google geotagged photo-sharing site Panoramio to judge an area’s touristyness. It’s not perfect — I have a hard time believing that central France is less touristy than say, Bosnia — but it’s a pretty good guide to how to get off the beaten path.
Obviously, people like to vacation in places with great beaches or in cities with lots of great museums and restaurants. And, not so much in places that are cold, isolated, undeveloped, war-torn, or crime ridden. Same here! But it looks like there are plenty of good places to vacation that aren’t overly crowded.
And, of course, as commenters at Information is Beautiful point out, the methodology used here is imprecise. After all, people who live places upload photos, too.
North Korea looks pretty tourist free.
Think I’ll go there !