Innovative digital directory on tourism

By Sanjana Bhowmick

The record for printing an innovative digital directory on tourism; was set by Jebi Issac Muttuvelil Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This is the first digital directory of its kind in India that contains 3,078 dynamic QR codes including, tourist destinations, activities, events, business cards and classifieds.

Jebi Isaac Muttuvelil, the Managing Editor of Direct Publishers, talks about the digital directory, he published this year.

Talking about the idea of the directory, he says, “As to find futuristic developments in the field of printing, we did a lot of research in the attempt to modernise. The concept of the digital directory was conceived, with the idea of how print media and visual media can be linked to the changing times. Using the latest digital concept of dynamic QR Codes, this directory will always remain updated. This directory will certainly usher in a new era in the field of printing and publishing.”

It is not an easy task to work and collate a directory of this proportion. To compile the directory, it took 12 staff and one whole year to complete all the data entry, designing, settings, proofreading, and other aspects. The directory has videos of over 1400 tourist destinations in Kerala and over 1600 digital business cards and advertisements.

“I always try to think differently. Many of my ideas have failed in the past, but those failures constantly inspire me to think creatively. This idea was born out of inspiration”, says Jebi.

This directory was published after a year of hard work, replacing everything else in his life. Realising the importance of the work, his wife and two children extended complete support to him. It is his wife upon whose suggestion Jebi applied for the India Book of Records.

Remembering the challenges he faced, he says, “The main challenge we faced was to set 3072 QR codes accurately, edit them and make them error-free in a book format. The next challenge was to print the multi-coloured QR code carefully because if not printed properly, then the code would not be functional.”

Achieving this feat wouldn’t have been possible without the unwavering support of the Kerala Tourism Department. Kerala Tourism shot the videos of all the tourist destinations, which helped make the directory a virtual tour. They also provided all the beautiful photos and descriptions along with video links.

Jebi wants to recover the lost glory of print media with this technological innovation and aims that the digital directory reaches every nook and corner of the world and in turn promote tourism in Kerala. For future record-holders • Think differently • Work hard to make it possible • Turn obstacles into opportunities