Launching Getlocal — the local recommendation platform
Today is a big day for us at Getlocal as we are launching our new local recommendation service.
Our mission is to help people get local advice from people like them that they can trust.
Getlocal has been a dream of mine for many years but the need really came to me when I travelled extensively for my previous employer. I constantly found myself in new countries or cities with no connections or any idea about where to go or what places to visit.
Searching Google, Tripadvisor and Foursquare provided multiple results but it was a bit of a hit or miss. How could I know if the advice was authentic, who are the people giving the advice. What would someone like me actually do or recommend.
Whose reviews can you trust? Have you heard of The Shed? London’s best restaurant according to Tripadvisor.
So I started asking locals, either I chose someone from the group of people I was meeting with or I asked a random stranger at a coffee shop or on the street. Trying to find someone who looked like they had similar interests and tastes as me. Every time it was a success.
By following the local advice I found the best spots, had amazing food experiences and truly made the most of my journey. I noticed the same things happening when people visited me in my home country of Iceland. People asked me for my local recommendations and were really thankful for all the good advice that I gave them. It made the experience of their visit so much better.
I even wrote a blog post with all my advice, in a way it was my first prototype for Getlocal.
We wanted to create an open platform where anyone can sign up and become a local, then share their recommendations with friends and strangers alike.
Getting started is really simple, you just make a list with your favourite things i.e. best coffee shops in... Then you can add as many items to your list as you like, we can search for the place to get the address but you can also add items that don’t have a location. And that’s it!
People are free to create lists with pretty much anything (just keep it legal). Then you can share it with whomever you like and people will be able to find your list through our search engine.
Later we will be working on some smart algorithms to find people that are more like you based on interest, taste and other factors.
We have also added an incentive program where travel related products are sold in context with the advice so people who sign up to become a local can actually make some extra money on the side. (only in Iceland right now.)
We already have over 100 locals signed up and some of the early beta users are really happy with the service. Some are Airbnb hosts, others are guides or just regular people that like to share personal tips and recommendations.
I welcome you all to Getlocal and hopefully I’ll be able to use some of your advice next time I travel, or you can use mine when visiting Iceland.
See you on https://getlocal.travel
