Popular online travel community Where Are You Now? has attracted $11 million in venture capital as it looks to expand and provide the scalability to support its fast growing membership. The site has over seven million users, however, it is not known how many of these are fee paying members – but clearly they are doing plenty right and providing a very popular way for travellers to share their experiences. The current design is cluttered, probably a knock on effect of integrating features and advertising opportunities into an existing template. (Sourece: Travelmole)

[UPDATE 29.11.06 – Techcrunch UK has run a story covering the recent investment in WAYN and discusses how the site may develop in the future)

I read about TIMAPS (Tourist Information Maps) in The Guardian a few months back and revisited the site this week. Essentially its a mash-up of tourist attractions plotted throughout the UK using Google maps. Each attraction is categorised and displayed on the map with colour coded icons. The site provides various methods of browsing the maps such as by name, postcode, region and popularity. It also allows registered users to build their own custom maps with their favourite places. Revenue for the site looks to come from Google ads and the recently added hotel listings provided by Active Hotels.

[UPDATE 15.12.06 -  I received an email from Paul at TiMaps this week with further details about the site. Since my post above, the site has been updated to focus on special interests and attractions can be viewed by organisation. For example, all the properties that are part of the National Trust can be viewed together.