CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the way we travel has changed over the last couple of years, so has our relationships with maps.

The Map Shop in Charlotte is seeing more people purchase maps as art, especially since COVID's impact on travel.

What You Need To Know

  • The pandemic brought a revived interests in maps
  • The Map Shop is seeing more people using maps as art and wall decorations 
  • The business is seeing a revenue increase of 20-30% from new map roll outs and new interest

Air travel still has not recovered to 2019 levels after taking a dramatic drop at the onset of the pandemic.

Official Air Guide records the total global domestic and international seats in the 18th week of 2023 at over 98.3 million. That's more seats than when compared to the same week in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The number still falls behind the 110 million seats in the 18th week of 2019.

National map agency, Ordnance Survey, saw the difference a restriction on travel had on maps. The organization reported a 144% increase in custom maps from people exploring their own neighborhoods and hiking trails close by. In 2021, it increased by an additional 28%.

The Map Shop has also seen the impact of these different map trends. Tony Rodono has been the owner since 2016 and says year over year they see a 20% to 30% increase in revenue because of new rollouts and new customers.

"We first started as a retailer," Rodono said. "And maps in retail -- I kind of saw the writing in the sand and thought, 'OK maybe that's not where we need to put all our eggs.' So, our first expansion was to e-commerce."

The Map Shop did not reopen its in-person store after the pandemic. The shop designs and produces their own wall maps, raised relief maps, and pull down maps.

Rodono says he noticed a spike in people requesting maps during the pandemic.

"Even travel maps to places with travel bans were increasing, and the only thought that we had with that -- and there have been several studies on it -- that the anticipation of and the planning of trips is actually more enjoyable than going on the trip," said Rodono.

He says when outdoors started to open up a little more, they saw an increase in trails and national park maps. Now, customers are returning from those trips and using maps as wall art and decoration.

"Maps are tied to the locations that are important to us, and a lot of people have memories in these locations, and stories in these places," Rodono explained. "So, why not decorate with the stories that you're connected to and the places that you care about the most."

The Map Shop will be rolling out new raised relief maps of Acadia National Park, Zion National Park and Canyonlands National Park this year.