URL: http://www.SpottedbyLocals.comCity travelers are increasingly looking to learn more about the local culture of their chosen destination. Paperback travel guides and websites with user generated travel information often fail to offer this “local” perspective. On www.SpottedbyLocals.com, the first series of cityblogs of its kind, handpicked bloggers write about spots and pass on local tips from a personal and local perspective. All potential bloggers are selected after a face to face interview. Only “real” locals that are really passionate about their city are selected. Spotted by Locals has recently launched 18 European city blogs, and will be launching a further 5 in the coming months. Modern city travelers are looking for local experiences...The success of the Couchsurfing project (where visitors can stay with locals instead of in hotels) shows that city travelers are progressively looking to learn more about the local culture of their destination. They do not only want to “do a city” by visiting standard highlights. Travel guide authors are often travelers themselves, and as such cannot necessarily offer the local perspective readers are looking for. Also a lot of the time the information in paperback travel guides quickly becomes inaccurate or no longer current. Travelers are increasingly turning to the Internet to source a wealth of travel tips written by locals and travelers alike. However, it is often difficult or plain impossible to see who is behind the "local" travel tips. Is it really a bona fide native or actually a traveler who has only visited the spot once? Perhaps it is even the proprietor of the spot with motivations of self-interest? Real local content by real local bloggers...On the Spotted by Locals cityblogs, real locals ("Spotters") write about the places they regularly frequent...Click to read more
