With an oversized map spread out over the dashboard, you search anxiously through your dense guide book in an attempt to establish whether the rundown structure in front of you is in fact the homestead of some famous pioneer or whether it is simply the abandoned shelter of a goatherd.

Ah yes, as the intrepid traveller in you knows, this is not a dilemma to be taken lightly. Mark Allewell understands this and in his desire to speak to tourists and tell them about South Africa, he came up with a novel concept: Tourism Radio.

Sometime back in 2004 Allewell (with the backing of the company’s original investor, YDE founder Paul Simon) sat down with Jon Tapson, an engineering professor from the University of Cape Town and devised a system whereby tourists to South Africa can get relevant information about the country as they travel through it.

Mmm… a radio station for tourists, clever. But this is no ordinary radio station. For while it does broadcast informative radio shows, it is also so much more than that — it provides the traveller with specific information about the area through which they are travelling. As they are travelling through it.

But, I don’t get it…

Basically, here’s how it works. Tourism Radio has teamed up with a number of car rental companies (Budget, Imperial, National Alamo, Sixt and Scenic) and has fitted each of their cars with a GPS device. This device tracks the location of the car and relays the information to a computer, which then ‘talks’ to the device in the car, which in turn transmits the pre-recorded information over the car’s radio.

The radio works on a three tier system. The first tier is general information about greater locations. Around Cape Town there are 17 different greater locations (for example, the city bowl, False Bay, the winelands etc). As you drive through each of these areas, the radio will provide you with information about the area. This can include a history of the area stretching back to the 17th century to more general current information.

The second tier is made up of pre-recorded radio shows. These play at regular intervals throughout the day and cover topics such as local music and cuisine to ‘20 questions a tourist might like to ask a local’.

If you are busy listening to general information when a show starts, the information will be interrupted by the show. However, the radio will never tune into a show half way through. So if you start driving at 2.45 and the show started at 2.30, the radio will automatically transmit general area information.

The third tier, Intelipoint, relays information about specific points of interest. For example, if you are busy listening to a radio show and you pass the aquarium, Intelipoint will interrupt the show and say something along the lines of: “If you look to your left you will see the aquarium. The aquarium is home to…”

Tourism Radio has been working with Cape Town Routes Unlimited to give tourists a greater understanding of the area they are in. The Intelipoint function also includes useful travel tips along the lines of ‘This is the last petrol station you will pass for 250 kilometres’ .

Set to become a global success

Collating and pre-recording all the information is a time intensive and expensive procedure. At the moment, Tourism Radio only covers the Western Cape, but Mark is confident that the rest of South Africa will be up and running by the end of the year – beginning with Durban and then Joburg (in particular the stretch to and from the Kruger National park) before moving on to the rest of the country.

Because the business plan is designed around advertising, this is probably the most affordable tourist guide you’ll ever encounter, at a mere R15 per day. It is easy too – simply opt for the Tourism Radio option when hiring your car and tune into 91.4FM for a wealth of information.

Currently, Tourism Radio is only broadcast in English, as this seems to cater to the majority of tourists travelling in and around South Africa. However, there is the possibility of portions being broadcast in other languages and handheld mobile technology for the influx of tourists during 2010.

With a franchise of Tourism Radio already operating in Namibia (with over 35 hours of information), this South African initiative looks set to become a global success. A Swiss company based in Spain, which bought a 50 percent share of the company in March, plans to have the initiative up and running in Spain, Portugal, France and Australia by June 2008.

So, next time you drive past that pile of rubble without having to reach automatically for your guide book, you’ll know who to thank.