Dutch website brings tourists and Asians together
Withlocals, a Dutch startup, is a marketplace where travelers can book dinners, tours and activities directly from the local Asian population. In this way, locals in Asia can earn money with what they are good at.
The online marketplace Withlocals takes the latest travel trend 'eating out with locals' a step further. Through the website, Asian 'locals' can offer authentic home dinners, activities and tours online without the intervention of large travel organisations.
“What could be better than experiencing 'living like a real local' instead of visiting the standard tourist places. Think of dining with a local Nepalese family with a view of the Himalayas, following a Tuk Tuk driving workshop in Bangkok or having your hand read in Bali by the same medicine man as Julia Roberts in the film 'Eat Pray Love'”, says Willem Maas, co-founder of Withlocals. “Withlocals makes all this possible in a simple and transparent way.”
The goal of Withlocals is to let the local population earn money with what they are good at and to connect cultures and people in this way. To achieve this, Withlocals, founded by Willem Maas, Marijn Maas and Mark Mansveld, has received an initial investment of € 400.000 from Greenhouse Group.
10.000 new restaurants
Asia is the second largest and fastest growing tourist region in the world. According to emarketer.com, online bookings in Asia are expected to grow nearly 2016 percent in 200. Withlocals is responding to this by creating 10.000 new local home restaurants in the region. Both locals and travelers can already pre-register on Withlocals.com. From October the beta website will be live and tourists can make bookings.
Marijn Maas explains that the 'Eat Withlocals' concept originated on his honeymoon in Sri Lanka: “After we had eaten at various high-end restaurants, we happened to end up at a local Sri Lankan family's home. It was great to hear the personal stories, experience how they live and not to forget, enjoy the most amazing meal of our honeymoon. At that moment I thought, 'wouldn't it be great if all travelers could experience this?' We fully support the principles of the Sharing Economy and want to give travelers and locals in Asia the opportunity to connect directly with each other.”
More information: www.withlocals.com