Mobile apps appear to be de rigeur for any travel guide company looking to peddle its content to users when on a trip, but TravellersPoint has gone back to basics with a simple but effective email system.
The Norway and Australia-based community company has developed a system where anyone can email the site with a country or city name in the subject field and almost instantaneously receive reams of travel content in an email or PDF.
The founders claim it is one of a kind in the travel space as most other online content publishers require the guide to be organised on the website or a fee is charged to the customer.
The email and PDFs include information relating to transport, hotels, sights, tours, restaurants, weather, events and internet connection.
Around 3,100 articles can be obtained using the system, which launched today.
The London guide, for example, arrived within ten minutes of sending the email and with a 26-page PDF of information and destination content.
Co-founder Sam Daams says the content is aggregated from the site's own wiki-based platform which is created by the TP membership.
"No need to download an app, search online or have an iPhone - it works on all phones with email," he adds.
The next stage is to explore whether instantaneous edits can be integrated, so a user can send in a tip about piece of information about a destination and it immediately appear in the next downloaded guide.
Daams says the main idea is to make contributing and sharing information a lot easier than it is today, simply because users are forced to connect at an app or browser level.
The service is planned to be available to anyone and remain free, Daams says, stressing that it feels "wrong" to charge for what is effectively Creative Commons licensed wiki content from its own site.
"It's always been our model to give away all the services, content and information for free, creating a vibrant, active community in return."