A literal map of the world published by an Australian credit card comparison company has accidentally gone viral, being picked up by nearly 200 news sites in over 50 different countries, reaching an online readership of 2.91 billion and achieving 9.64 million estimated coverage views and over 110 thousand social shares.
The world map created by Credit Card Compare contains literal translations of every single country name in the world into English, such as “Land of Many Rabbits” for Spain, “I Go to the Beach” for Nauru, and “In the Navel of the Moon” for Mexico.
Some of the other more colourful names also included “Place of Abundant Fish” for Panama, “Hippopotamus” for Mali, “High and Beautiful” for Korea, and “Protected by Fire” for Azerbaijan.
The map was created on somewhat of a whim as a fun and humorous marketing tool, but the huge level of online uptake astonished even Credit Card Compare.
“To be honest, we were just expecting to have a little fun, and hopefully bring a few travel enthusiasts back to our website to check out our comparison tools for travel rewards,” said David Boyd, Co-Founder of Credit Card Compare.
“Learning the etymology of your favourite travel destination can offer a fascinating insight into its origins, and the people who first lived there – their character, how they saw themselves, and how they wanted to be regarded. This can add an extra rewarding layer of understanding when visiting as a traveller.
“While we always thought it was a fun and engaging idea, we didn’t ever expect it to nearly break the internet!”
Learning about the heritage of a destination country is one aspect of “cultural heritage tourism”, defined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as “traveling to experience the places, artefacts, and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past”.
‘Culture’ has become an increasingly important marketing tool to attract travellers into any particular country according to Credit Card Compare, which might explain the keen interest in this particular map.
“The plethora of positive responses we received to the map reinforce the importance of and interest in different cultures,” continued David Boyd.
“Of the thousands of messages, comments, and emails that were generated in response to the hundreds of publications that featured the map, the overwhelmingly majority were also highly positive.
“They demonstrated a sense of pride in respondents’ personal heritages, along with a curiosity about the unique characteristics and individuality of other countries,” concluded David Boyd.
To see the map: https://www.creditcardcompare.com.au/blog/world-map-literal-translation-country-names/
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