Tech Startup: Withlocals

This month our travel-tech startup series we connect Madalina Buzdugan at Withlocals, the first app in the sharing economy to introduce home dining in Asia. The app offers experiences to explore a unique culture, food or destination with a local resident while benefiting local communities.

Who is your start-up for?

Generally, Withlocals is for anyone who wants to connect with people in a meaningful exchange and help benefit locals and communities around the world.

We target independent travelers that rely on technology for their booking choices, who are self-sufficient and book their own flights and accommodation, a fast-growing group that is currently 50% of the traveling population. We’re also the right choice for the luxury travelers who choose boutique hotels, 3-stars restaurants but want an alternative to standard chefs and their menus.

What is the most important during your travels?

Authenticity, off-the-beaten track experiences and overall real opportunities to discover new cultures and countries and to do so in an ethical way.

What kind of experiences or opportunities make travel real?

One of the best experiences we love is to “eat with locals” enjoying a home dinner at local family’s place. It’s a way to taste the culture of the country you’re visiting in an authentic way.

There are also off-the-beaten track tours and authentic activities that our hosts offer. They give travelers access to the real, raw Asia be it carving fruits in Indonesia, swimming with the sharks in the Philippines or enjoying a delicious dinner while you listen to grandma’s Thai stories – there’s plenty of choice.

How did the idea With Locals come about?

Withlocals’ co-founders Willem and Marijn Maas both have traveled extensively through Southeast Asia. Marijn noticed that his honeymoon highlight was not the 5-stars lunch served at resorts but the home dinner he and his wife enjoyed at a local’s house. It was that experience that gave him amazing insights into the culture and history of the place, that’s how he got the most valuable travel tips and how great friendships were formed.

Travel Massive is about empowering change in travel. How does Withlocals do this?

Willem Maas’ experience was different as he was struck by how his local guides were struggling to make a living because the travel agents were often profiting the most. The questions was: what can we do to make real Asia known to travelers and also help the local community?

Withlocals is about supporting the local economy and doing good. We strive to empower local people to make a living by doing something they love. There’s no middle man and hosts make exactly the money they’re asking for the experiences they’re offering. It’s one of the big reasons we created this app.

Also, each host on our website can only offer up to 40 experiences a year. This way, we make sure we don’t support mass tourism.

I love your title – you’re the “Customer Happiness Manager” at Withlocals. What do you do?

My role is to keep travelers, hosts and ambassadors happy. We care about each part’s traveling needs and do our best to customize a person’s experience – we recently hit 100 000 happy fans!

What challenges have you faced in getting your start-up launched and gaining traction in the industry?

We’re facing challenges on a daily basis, as we strive to shift the attention from all-inclusive packages to authentic experiences with local people. However, we launched in December 2013 and we are already present in 9 countries in Southeast Asia, with the 10th opening soon.. We’ve also launched our first app at the end of 2014, both for iOS and Android.

From a business perspective, it’s been great to see the niche of businesses using the sharing economy expand like never before. We believe that is the future of traveling!

What do you think is the biggest challenge in the travel industry you would like to see resolved or improved?

We don’t appreciate mass-tourism and we feel that it’s one of the main challenges we’re currently facing. Travel agencies have their importance, of course, but we encourage sustainable tourism, so the traveler’s money goes straight to the local community, helping the local hosts to make a living by doing something they love.

Where do you see the online travel industry in 5 years?

Our vision is that consumer holiday booking behavior will shift from a “destination first-choice” to an “experience first-choice”. You can already see that travel tendency: our travelers want to go where tourist buses never go. Central to this authentic experience is connecting people and cultures through food and experiences in a personal, meaningful and ethical way.

Editors note: WithLocals has expanded to Europe. Hosts can join WithLocals in the Netherlands and Spain.

The travel-tech startup is a monthly series that profiles innovative online travel ideas in our Travel Massive community around the world. You can follow Withlocals on Travel Massive.