Have you always wanted to survey a city with a local or have your hands on a tourist map that’s both playful and practical? That’s what the Swiss start-up “A la Carte” proposes: a return to the basics of a tour guide but with a renewed aesthetic. The idea is to accompany the visitor, as if guided by a friend and resident of the city who knows every hidden corner. The young company offers customized packages, adapted to individual needs by offering themed travel itineraries in advance: romantic, sporting, cultural …
Each “My City à la Carte” includes a guide and map that are drawn and annotated by hand with the most important information for tourists. The drawings and annotations are meant to be both playful and informative, evocative of those precious scribbles in a seasoned traveler’s guide: “Restaurant not to miss”, “Beautiful monument overlooking the town”, “typical store”. Included in the premium is a design created by an artist that reflects the character of the city which you can keep after the trip: a little souvenir or an original note sent in lieu of a postcard. The guide begins with a welcome letter, detailing practical information and the places not to be missed, always leading the visitor in a personalized way. In the guide, stories are told in pictures for easy and fun discoveries. The cards are printed on a sheet of plastic that is resistant to bending and inclement weather and can be continually reused, unlike paper maps that are easily torn. It’s a new generation tourist package that nonetheless continues to borrow from traditional forms. Nothing revolutionary, but a novel approach to travel when one wants to think outside the box.
A la Carte personalizes the needs of visitors
For the more courageous, the more demanding, or those wishing to track their adventures en route, the feature “Create your own City à la Carte” allows you to imagine and create your own map. Every aspect is designed to summon the inner artist in each adventurer. This personalized product allows you to mark points of interest in the city with stickers that are provided, then walk the streets according to your desires and fill in the card yourself, piecing together venues as if on a treasure hunt. This custom map can then be lent to friends who discover the city in turn, as if you accompanied them.
The maps alone, free of advertising, cost 8,90 euros. “A la Carte” promises to donate 10% of its guides’ sales to charities of the cities covered.
For those who dream of visiting Berlin “A la Carte”, you will have to wait a bit. For now, maps are available for Barcelona, London, Paris, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Shanghai, Tokyo, New York and Washington DC. We’ll have to wait for friends and residents of other cities to share their precious tips “à la carte”…
To know more about the innovation presented in this article, please contact us at the following address: contact@innovcity.com
Translated by Genny Cortinovis
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