Having been in Europe last month with my family I noticed that most visitors carried tour books. For decades these have been the handy-dandy way to get information, maps, directions and other factoids. But Allovisit, a Web travel guide Web site, thinks that is so 20th century. This service is offering tour information via a mobile handset, with versions in English and French for all the major tourists destinations in France.

Of course the issue remains that many tourists don’t have a mobile phone. This is a small hurdle, and considering the cost of pre-paid phones these days something that shouldn’t be an issue. The bigger issue might be that sites like Allovisit are good, but a Web-enabled Blackberry, or any other smart phone for that matter, can just as easily pull up everything you need. Plus, sorry to sound like a Luddite, but there are still times when a paper map or book are faster than trying to navigate via a two-inch screen to get information on what time the Musee de Armee closes.

[Via International Herald Tribune]