Tourist maps are not unique. Artistically rendered maps are available for many cities, usually created by a local artist. What distinguishes Guatemala-based mapmaking company Where To Go Maps is their focus on replicating the local approach globally.

Where To Go Maps is working towards creating a globalised mapping system that would see their free artistic city maps available to travellers for all major tourist destinations worldwide. In addition to presenting tourists with the best hotels, restaurants, bars, shops, attractions and sightseeing highlights that each city has to offer, Where to Go Maps also illustrate the specific locations of local businesses who advertise on the maps.

Currently available online and in downloadable form for seven cities—La Antigua, Guatemala City, Puerto Rico, Panama City, Cayman Islands, Madrid and Miami—Where To Go Maps is seeking partners to join them in creating maps for more cities across the globe. One to explore? (Related: Hand-sketched city maps feature drawings and local advice.)

Website: www.wheretogomaps.com
Contact: info@wheretogomaps.com

Spotted by: Juan Olivero 

Few would dispute the value of a business that breaks down barriers for consumers with disabilities. A shining example of this, Traveleyes is a UK-based travel company whose primary function is to make independent world travel more accessible, and more interesting, for the blind and visually impaired.

Traveleyes offers "multi-sensory experience" holiday packages worldwide for number-balanced groups of sighted and non-sighted holidaymakers. Every day, each visually impaired traveller is partnered with a different sighted traveller who describes the sights to illuminate the experience for their travel buddy.

For visually impaired travellers this means they don't always have to organise willing travel companions in advance. Instead they can simply browse Traveleyes' (highly accessible) website or audio brochure, phone to confirm a booking, and then jet off with new-found independence.

Sighted travellers benefit from a discounted price, and, the organisers believe, a more rewarding experience than they would get on a conventional package holiday.

Globally, around 314 million people are visually impaired, according to the World Health Organisation. As populations age, the size of this market—and its collective spending power—will increase. How can your brand better serve this segment of the population? (Related: Blind guides take sighted on sensorial walking tours.)    

Website: www.traveleyes-international.com
Contact: info@traveleyes-international.com

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann 

Stuffed animals can already play a starring role in storybooks thanks to Typlume & Graphine's series La Vie de Mon Doudou. Now, for teddies with a taste for adventure, there's the opportunity to tour the sights of Prague and return home with a suitcase full of souvenirs.

Czech Toy Traveling bills itself as "the first global travel agency for teddy bears and cuddly toys", and it offers consumers with toys hankering to see the world a choice of several tour packages. The basic fare of EUR 90 ensures that a ted will communicate by email daily during his, her or its travels and then return home with photographs, a certificate and a gift. The extended fare, priced at EUR 140, adds more photographs, an "aromatherapy service", and an original travel box; while the premium fare of EUR 150 adds a photo album, a "massage" and an original shipment package. Toy Traveling serves only toys sized 80cm x 40cm x 40cm or smaller, and weighing no more than 3kg.

Toy Traveling currently focuses its tours solely on Prague, but it's already forming plans for expansion: Bratislava, Budapest, Munich, Berlin, Paris and Rio de Janeiro are all possibilities, according to the company's Facebook page. It seems to us there could also be a fruitful partnership with TinyPocketPeople, allowing consumers to take vicarious trips by sending mini versions of themselves. There are lots of opportunities in this quirky field—maybe it's time to start playing with toys again! (Related: Monthly mail service turns kids into globe-trotters.)

Website: www.sendyourdarling.com/toytraveling
Contact: toy.traveling@gmail.com

Spotted by: Giulia Cuccolini

Bird-watchers are well-known for the tenacity with which they chronicle sightings of avian species worldwide, but fans of other types of wildlife may have a harder time figuring out what's likely to be nearby. Now coming to the rescue is WildlifeNearYou, a UK-based site that lets animal lovers share their experiences and locate wildlife around the globe.

Focusing on nature reserves, zoos, parks and other organised wildlife locations, WildlifeNearYou lets users search for particular animals or search by area to learn where the wildlife that matters to them is likely to be found. They can also combine their search criteria and, for example, look for llamas in London. More than 1,500 species and 600 locations in 56 countries have been added since the site's launch in January, and users can add their own trips with information and photos of what they saw. Those with specific knowledge, meanwhile, can also help tag photos on the site with names for the species shown.

Combining one part life-tracking and one part location-based search, WildlifeNearYou promises to serve wildlife hobbyists and experts alike with its database of localised spottings. In addition to tapping advertising possibilities, we wouldn't be surprised to see WildlifeNearYou team up with a conservation effort of some kind, giving users a way to combine their passion with the good karma of helping out. Nature-focused organisations around the world: is this one to get involved in? (Related: For every brand and logo, a species to be saved — Community for tracking life experiences.)

Website: www.wildlifenearyou.com
Contact: www.wildlifenearyou.com/feedback

Spotted by: Marko Balabanovic

We've seen myriad examples of hotels partnering with non-hotel brands, including W Hotels' collaboration with Puma for in-hotel fitness services, as well as sponsored rooms in various hotels. Now taking the branding even further is La Casa del Camino Hotel in Laguna Beach., Calif., where every one of the hotel's 10 newly renovated suites features a different, immersive branded experience.

Billabong Suite 206, for example, is designed to be a surfer's paradise, with artwork including a 3D piece that tells the company's history through images of surfers, palm trees and the Billabong logo cut into reclaimed wood. Glacéau Suite 315, meanwhile, features aquatic hues and fabrics made, appropriately, from recycled plastic bottles. Other brands involved include Rip Curl, etnies, Roxy, Quiksilver, L* Space and Lost International. A different designer was recruited to create the theme in each branded suite; together, they are all part of the Casa Surf Project in the Riviera Magazine Design series. Pricing for each suite begins at about USD 250 per night, and a portion of the proceeds is donated to charity during the hotel's first year. Pets are welcome.

Whereas many of the in-hotel branding efforts we've covered have amounted to tryvertising initiatives, this one is closer to a collection of brand spaces, offering patrons an immersive look at each brand's signature style. In addition to tapping into the name recognition of those brands, of course, La Casa del Camino's use of corporate sponsorship also no doubt helped subsidize the costs of renovation. A model to emulate, particularly during tough economic times! (Related: Beer cans that sleep two — Hotel as retail space.)

Website: www.casasurfproject.com
Contact: stay@casaresortsinc.com

Spotted by: Adam Hicks