Wikitravel Press Announces Customized "Wikitravel Fresh" Guidebooks

PediaPress Technology Allows Users To Build Their Own Guides

Frankfurt, October 15, 2008 Wikitravel Press (www.wikitravelpress.com), the exclusive print publisher of the award-winning Wikitravel (www.wikitravel.org) online travel guide, today announced the launch of Wikitravel Fresh guidebooks, built by users from their choice of tens of thousands of destinations and printed on demand.

Wikitravel uses the wiki-based collaborative editing technology made popular by Wikipedia. Wikitravel guides are built on the principle that travelers often get their best information from other travelers. The website offers nearly 50,000 travel guides in twenty languages, with over 10,000 editorial contributions per week. Wikitravel won the Best Travel Website category in the 2007 Webby Awards.

Wikitravel Press builds upon this extraordinary community participation to create continually updated, reliable guidebooks, published on demand and shipped anywhere in the world. With launch of Wikitravel Fresh, developed in cooperation with PediaPress (pediapress.com), the entire sum of Wikitravel content will become available in printed form. For example, a user can select "Frankfurt", "Luxembourg" and "Helsinki" and have the three Wikitravel guides printed in one volume, which is cheaper, lighter, more convenient and more environmentally friendly than buying three separate guides. Full commercial availability is expected by December 2008.

"Wikitravel is a natural fit for PediaPress wiki-to-print technology," said Heiko Hees, managing director of PediaPress. "Using our user-friendly web interface, users can easily assemble, preview and order their books online, for quick delivery throughout the world."

"Wikitravel Press is already the market leader in constantly updated guidebooks, and Wikitravel Fresh will further reduce the lead time," said Jani Patokallio, managing editor of Wikitravel Press. "No longer will travellers be limited to hopelessly outdated editions mouldering on dusty bookshop shelves: with Wikitravel Fresh, what you see on your screen is what you will get in your book."

CONTACT: Jani Patokallio, +65-91859331, jani(at)wikitravelpress.com
Hall 4.2 stand E427 at Frankfurt Book Fair 2008