The World Heritage Centre has concluded its yearly map outreach campaign, mailing more than 9,000 copies of the 2007/2008 World Heritage Wall Map that features 851 World Heritage sites. The map is produced by National Geographic with support from Hewlett Packard.
In addition, UNESCO regional offices distributed 13,000 maps through their global network, and nearly 20,000 have been circulated by the National Commissions for UNESCO of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention. While the mailing campaign has ended, the map can still be downloaded from the website as a high-resolution, full colour PDF.
I took the opportunity to also view the World Heritage Tour, a 3-D interactive visit to many World Heritage sites. The interface allows you to pan and zoom within a high-resolution photo, giving you a sense that you’re visiting the site. The tour recently added 80 more sites to the image bank from the Middle East and East Africa. The unique 360-degree imaging interface allows close inspection of areas that are often off limits to tourists, and promotes the idea of sustainable tourism.
