illustrator map to imagemap automatically? or is there a better way?

You can use the Attributes panel to set a link on each path, and then use Save for Web and Devices to save as HTML or HTML+Image -- that creates an imagemap in the HTML file.

In addition to LHMathies answer please note that the path in Illustrator must not be a compound path in order to use the "Polygon" shape. The HTML output of a Compound Path will result in a "rectangle" shape.

To convert a compound path to a simple path right click the path and select Release Compound Path.