Rome2Rio was founded in September 2012 and describes itself as “a door-to-door travel information and booking engine, helping you get to and from any location in the world safely.”
But what happens if you want to use Rome2Rio for directions to Jerusalem, and more specifically some of the most prominent sites in Israel’s capital city?
A search for the Old City reveals the following:
Once in the Old City, how about a visit to its most prominent and iconic site?
Or the Jewish Quarter?
Related Reading: Google Maps ‘Crosses Country Borders’ in Jerusalem
Ignoring both political and geographical reality, the journey planning site terms every location in the eastern part of Israel’s undivided capital to be part of “Palestine.”
Is Rome2Rio’s aim to help travelers or is it to cause confusion by making overtly inappropriate political and inaccurate geographic pronouncements?
Please send your complaints to Rome2Rio by clicking on this link:
UPDATE – AUGUST 1:
HonestReporting wrote to Rome2Rio twice during July and both times received generic responses that “one of our experts will be in touch.”
Nobody was in touch.
Another review of the Rome2Rio website, however, shows that adjustments have been made in response to our complaints. Unfortunately, the results indicate why Rome2Rio evidently wasn’t too keen to discuss the issue with us.
For, while “Palestine” no longer appears after any locations at all and Jerusalem is now in Israel, the eastern part and the Old City are now located in the West Bank.
Bizarrely, specific locations in the Old City, such as the Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter have been geographically orphaned and are no longer located anywhere.
Did Rome2Rio attempt to correct the original error or has it merely added to the confusion and inaccuracies?
HonestReporting will once again attempt to get an answer.
