The problem with modern tourism
Travel has become expensive, commoditised, and disconnected from the places people visit.
Travelers get ripped off
Traditional travel agencies and tour operators take enormous margins — often 40–60% — and deliver identical, rehearsed experiences that could happen anywhere. Travelers pay premium prices for generic tours.
Local knowledge goes unmonetised
Millions of people around the world have incredible local knowledge — hidden restaurants, historic stories, secret viewpoints — but no accessible way to share it and earn from it on their own terms.
The connection is missing
The best travel experiences happen when you meet a real local who is genuinely passionate about their city. That connection rarely happens through a booking agency or a one-size-fits-all tour.
Our mission
"To create genuine economic opportunities for local citizens worldwide — so every person who knows their city deeply has a dignified, flexible way to share that knowledge and earn from it — while giving travelers access to experiences that are real, personal, and fairly priced."
Tourism is one of the world's largest industries, yet the people who actually make a destination worth visiting — the street food vendors, neighbourhood historians, foodie residents, artists — rarely see a fair share of that value. We're building the infrastructure to change that, one local guide at a time.
What we stand for
Fairness
Guides earn what they deserve. Travelers pay what things are actually worth. No hidden fees, no agency markups.
Authenticity
Every experience on our platform is created by a real person with real passion. No copy-paste listings, no scripted tours.
Trust
Guide profiles are verified. Reviews are real. Travelers can chat directly with their guide before committing to anything.
Community
We are building a global network of local citizens who take pride in sharing their home. That community makes us who we are.
Who we are
Local Guide is an independent project built by a small team of people who love travel and hate what mass tourism has done to it. We have been frustrated, like many travelers, by overpriced group tours, pushy sales tactics, and experiences that feel more like conveyor belts than genuine encounters with a place.
At the same time, we have met incredible people in our travels — a street food vendor in Istanbul who knew every secret alley, a retired teacher in Marrakech who could trace the history of every tile in the medina, a photographer in Athens who knew every perfect light at golden hour — people with remarkable knowledge and no platform to share it on their own terms.
So we built Local Guide. It is not a travel agency. We are a technology platform — a free marketplace — where those locals can create and publish their own experiences, set their own prices, and connect directly with travelers who want something real.
We are early stage, growing every month, and deeply committed to making this work. If you are a local who wants to start earning from your city knowledge, or a traveler who is tired of tourist traps, you are exactly who we built this for.
Common questions
Transparency matters to us. Here is what people usually want to know.
Join us in making travel better
Whether you want to discover authentic local experiences or share your own city knowledge and earn from it — Local Guide is free to use on iOS and Android.
Browse hundreds of genuine local experiences. Chat with guides. No agency, no scripts.
Browse ExperiencesTurn your city knowledge into extra income. Free to start. You set the price.
Become a Guide
