Types of Tourist Maps You Can Create

Trying to make a tourist map and don't know what kind of map to make? Here are a few types of tourist maps you can try to make.

But before we get into it, here is a little background story of this post. I am writing my thesis in cartography, and since I have studied tourism as well, I wish my project should be related to tourism. I guess I want to specialise in cartography for tourism.

It has been hard for me to find a topic and when I finally got a direction, it was difficult for me to decide on my topic. Probably because I didn't know the various options (maps) that I had to choose from for my topic. So after lots of research that took quite a long time, I found my options by reading articles and books online.

So according to my findings, here are the various types of tourism maps you can try your hand in. They are classified according to the various types of tourism.

Types of Tourist Maps you can make

1. Recreational tourism - Personal sightseeing maps for tourists who want to explore a city or village by car, bicycle, on foot or by rail tours. Also exploring restaurants and picnicking. 

The highlight here is the routes that the tourists can take for tours or sightseeing. This map should enable the tourist to go on tours by themselves so it has to be very precise and clear. other points that have to be clear are the places that they have to visit like museums, hotels, restaurants and other tourist sites. Places like hospitals and pharmacies should be present on such maps to help tourists find their way during emergencies.

2. Maps for tourism activities that have traceable and precise routes like hiking, cycling, biking, racing, skiing, climbing, sailing, fishing and diving.

The main features to highlight here are the routes the tourists will hike or race on. It should show the links between the routes and differentiate the routes that are meant for that activity from the normal passenger routes. Also, dangerous areas or routes should be highlighted on the map, especially for skiing and sailing maps. Stops and refreshment points are also important for this map.

3. Business tourism - Conferences, seminars, etc.

This map should highlight major tourist sites in the area as the tourists may want to make a quick visit to these places after their business meetings. There is also a need to clearly highlight the hotels and the category of hotels because business people are always in search of the best places to stay in terms of price and class. Also, show public workspaces where they can have meetings or conferences. Since business people are time savvy, it's good to show how long it may take to move from one part of the area to another considering the various forms of transportation that the area has. Also, zones of high traffic are worth indicating.

4. Sports tourism - World Cup, African Nations Cup, UEFA Champions League, etc

Sports maps will require that you obviously show where the stadiums are, and the roads leading to them from major hotels and restaurants because travellers need to find a place to stay, eat and watch the games. Also, areas, where there will be grand projections of the games, will be great to show because some people like the residents of the country may want a whole different experience from watching the game from home. Also, highlight sports stores or shops where they can buy jerseys. Souvenir shops and cultural markets are also worth identifying on the map so that they can buy souvenirs to take back home.

5. Pilgrimage tourism - Muslims to Mecca, Christians to Nazareth, etc

The main thing to show here is the various routes that lead to the holy ground or the pilgrimage site. Show the means of transport possible and available if possible. Also, show religious stores where pilgrims can buy gifts and souvenirs for their family and friends back home. Showing hotels and restaurants close to the site will also be a good plus.

6. Cultural tourism - Culinary tourism, festivals, dance, caravans, etc

The site of the cultural activity should be highlighted as well as the route of the caravan. Indicate hotels close to the site and restaurants too. Traditional restaurants or themed restaurants will be great to highlight.

7. Ecotourism - Nature

Show areas where ecotourism is practised and classify them according to the types of services they offer the tourists. Is it a zoo or botanical garden or both? Is it a nursery or a full-grown forest? This will helps the visitor know the eco sites he/she will want to visit.


Another point to consider when classifying a tourism map is the user of the map. Is it the tourist or the developers? It is also important to take into consideration the content and the use of the map. Knowing what the map will be used for will enable you to determine the user and content. the content varies with the purpose of the map. Certain tourism maps require more details than others and this will impact the scale of the map as well.

Tourism maps also have main focal points that you the cartographer must consider. For example - maps for activities like climbing focus on the safety of the climbers, sightseeing and recreational maps focus on easy navigation of the tourist while cultural tourism focus on the tourists' experience during the event.

Each type of tourism map is meant for a specific group of tourists. Tourism is evolving. As new types of tourism develop we need to find new ways to map them.

UPDATE: This post is meant to help you have an idea of the possibilities you have when it comes to tourism. I am a Cartography student writing my thesis and I had a hard time settling for a topic in tourism. So I hope this helps anyone looking for preliminary information or a guide as to the different kinds of maps possible in tourism.