- published: 20 Oct 2009
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Wikitravel is a web-based collaborative travel guide project, based upon the wiki model, launched by Evan Prodromou and Michele Ann Jenkins in 2003. In 2006, Internet Brands bought the trademark and servers and later introduced advertising to the website. Wikitravel received a Webby Award for Best Travel Website in 2007. That same year, Wikitravel's founders began Wikitravel Press, which publishes printed travel guides based on the Web site's content. The first print guides were released on February 1, 2008.
Using a wiki model, Wikitravel is built through collaboration of Wikitravellers from around the globe. Articles can cover any level of geographic specificity, from continents to districts of a city. These are logically connected in a hierarchy, by specifying that the location covered in one article "is in" the larger location described by another. The project also includes articles on travel-related topics, phrasebooks for travelers, and suggested itineraries.
Wikitravel is a multilingual project available in 21 languages, with each language-specific project developed independently. The English language version leads in terms of number of articles with over 24,500 in April 2011. While the project uses the MediaWiki software, Wikitravel is not a Wikimedia project; it was begun and is operated independently.