New York City may be starting a new trend in city-oriented tourist Web sites. In partnership with Google, it has launched the NYCgo.com site, a portal to promote tourism, and opened a high-tech information center for visitors.
The Web site uses Google Maps and other information to make it easy for a visitor or a local resident to quickly find things to do, places to go, restaurants and other points of interest. The site also provides discounts and promotions.
Just Ask the Locals
The information center at 810 Seventh Avenue offers touch-sensitive horizontal screen tables that also use Google Maps. In a statement on The Official Google Blog, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote that the new Web site and information center will “help make it easier for both visitors and residents to explore the energy, excitement and diversity of New York City’s five boroughs.”
Visitors can move around a table’s map of the city’s five boroughs. If the user has selected a category such as Museums & Galleries or Dining, the map will flag those places as a token is moved around. Each flagged item can then be opened to reveal photos and more information.
Since there are probably 10 million opinions about the city, no visitor’s center would be complete without at least a few virtual New Yorkers. A visitor can browse a Just Ask The Locals section, where famous New Yorkers give recommendations.
‘Custom Itinerary Flyover’
Visitors can save sites, recommendations and more to a physical disk and take it to a Video Wall where a “custom itinerary flyover” soars virtually over a detailed, three-dimensional map of the city. The wall also offers yet more advice from celebrities and local experts, and the visitor can send the itinerary to his or her cell phone, e-mail, or print it.
Andrew Frank,…