The good folks at Wikipedia – that is, Jimmy Wales, et al. – have taken their whole travel wiki thing up a notch. They’ve introduced a new site called WorldWiki, that allows travelers and interested parties to go in and edit information about travel destinations, hot spots, recommendations, etc.
This is a fine idea. If there’s any group other than Star Trek fans and lepidopterists who are passionate about their hobbies, it’s travelers. I expect this will be a very useful and informed resource…even if there is the possibility for Wiki-mahem. But if there is any model that should work nicely for finding the best bar in London or the cleanest hostel in Budapest, the Wiki system seems well suited to doing that. Right now, the site is in need of some contributors but I suspect it will soon catch on and could create some serious competition for dead tree guides. My guess is that the folks at Lonely Planet, et al, are watching this one closely.
As a side note: Wikipedia has been in the news a lot lately. The New Yorker had an excellent piece on the organization and I keep seeing more about it everywhere.