NAVTEQ goes bundu-bashing

NAVTEQ has recently signed a content agreement with Tracks4Africa. With this partnership in place, users will not only be able to easily navigate streets around South Africa, but also get detailed information on off-road trails for South Africa and surrounding countries.

NAVTEQ, has announced that it has signed a content agreement with eco-destination mapping company, Tracks4Africa.

‚With this agreement, NAVTEQ and Tracks4Africa have set the base for a highly competitive and relevant product for the Southern Africa market,‚ says Alastair Protheroe, director Middle East and Africa map and content products from NAVTEQ. ‚The offering, Tracks4Africa Off-Road Guide, combines the high quality map data and content from NAVTEQ with the unique outdoor content from Tracks4Africa.‚

Integrated into NAVTEQ’s data structure, this premium off-road and outdoor guide is built from the collective travel experiences of several hundred Tracks4Africa community members. The result of which is unique, rich content made up of more than 90 000kms of roads for South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, together with in excess of 40 000 points of interest like scenic viewpoints and specific lodging information.

Adds Johann Groenewald, managing director from Tracks4Africa: ‚The community concept provides that we have included content which is relevant to self drive tourists in Africa, with accurate travel time calculations based on GPS trace information, and the peace of mind that the back roads and off road tracks were driven by like minded travellers.‚

Users of navigation devices offering the Off-Road Guide can look forward to amongst other features, holiday trip planning and routing taking into account scenic tracks, difficulty of trails and natural landmarks: turn-by-turn navigation off the beaten path and benefitting from waypoint information and warnings while driving and guidance on biking and hiking trails.

The Tracks4Africa Off-Road Guide will be available in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique in the first quarter of 2010.