Company:Withlocals

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Short description: Travel and holiday companies of the Netherlands
Withlocals
TypeDutch limited liability company (B.V.)
Industrysharing economy, tour guide
Founded2013
HeadquartersEindhoven, Netherlands
Key people
Matthijs Keij (CEO)
Marijn & Willem Maas (Co-founders)
ProductsPrivate tours, local travel experiences
Websitewithlocals.com

Withlocals is an experiential travel company that connects travellers to local hosts who offer private, personalised tours.[1][2][3] Describing itself as trying to achieve "mass personalisation"[4][5] rather than offering group or package tours,[6] Withlocals is cited as an example of the role and impact of the sharing economy on tourism[7] – particularly culinary tourism[8][9] – and the consumer trends for "authenticity" and "experiences".[10][11][12][13]

History

Founded in 2013 by brothers Marijn and Willem Maas in Eindhoven, the Netherlands,[14][15] the company was supported by startup accelerator Greenhouse group. it obtained $500,000 seed funding from Digital Equity group[16] and a grant from the Horizon 2020 program.[17] It began operations by specifically targeting a market for sharing home cooked dinners across seven countries in Southeast Asia.[18][19] It later received Series A funding of €3.5 million ($4.3M) in 2017, at which time it reported to offer 1,200 tour options with 900 local hosts in 24 cities – having changed focus to personalised tour guides.[20] In 2019 it secured Series B funding of a further €8 million at which time it was active in 30 cities.[21][22] Both rounds were supported by Dutch investment company INKEF Capital[23] and the latter by Keen Venture Partners.[24] A priority of the latest round of investment is to improve the Software localisation and range of tours offered in languages other than English.[25] As of mid-2019, Withlocals has more than 50 employees.[26]

Cities

  • Images from various Withlocals tours

  • Lisbon

  • Kyoto

  • Bali

  • Athens

  • Denpasar

As of mid-2019 the Withlocals platform has hosts offering tours in the following cities:[27]


External links

References

  1. ↑ "Withlocals lets you travel like a local in Kuala Lumpur, with personalised tours" (in en). 2017-11-22. https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/withlocals-lets-you-travel-like-a-local-in-kuala-lumpur-with-personalised-tours-20171014-gz10ce. 
  2. ↑ Coldwell, Will (2016-10-17). "Regional know-how: the best websites for contacting local guides". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/oct/17/best-websites-local-guides-holidays. 
  3. ↑ "Withlocals to become the global leader in personalized travel experiences" (in en-US). 2019-04-04. https://travelmassive.com/blog/2019/04/an-introduction-to-withlocals/. 
  4. ↑ "Bye-bye mass tourism, hello healing touch". https://www.eyefortravel.com/social-media-and-marketing/bye-bye-mass-tourism-hello-healing-touch. 
  5. ↑ "Serie-ondernemer Marijn Maas scoort 3,5 miljoen voor Withlocals, om in te spelen op het einde van massatoerisme" (in nl). https://www.sprout.nl/artikel/startups/serie-ondernemer-marijn-maas-scoort-35-miljoen-voor-withlocals-om-te-spelen-op-het. 
  6. ↑ "Withlocals' data-driven approach to private tours impresses investors | PhocusWire" (in en). https://www.phocuswire.com/Withlocals-data-driven-approach-to-private-tours-impresses-investors. 
  7. ↑ Agapito, Dora; Alemida, Hugo de; Campos, Cláudia (2016). "Sensory perception and co-creation in rural tourism experiences". in Kastenholz, Elizabeth. Meeting Challenges for Rural Tourism through Co-Creation of Sustainable Tourist Experiences.. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 51. ISBN 978-1443898317. OCLC 957317911. 
  8. ↑ Gökdeniz, Ayhan; Erdem, Barış; Dinç, Yakup; Uğuz, Sabriye Çelik (January 2015). "Gastronomi Turizmi: Ayvalık'ta Yerli Turistler Üzerinde Görgül Bir Araştırma" (in tr). Journal of Tourism and Gastronomy Studies 3 (1). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309120814. 
  9. ↑ Vallbona, Montserrat Crespi; Pérez, Marta Domínguez (2016). "Los mercados de abastos y las ciudades turisticas" (in es). PASOS. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Heritage 14: 403. http://www.pasosonline.org/en/articles/910-crespi. Retrieved 2019-10-22. 
  10. ↑ Carter, Jamie (2018-08-01). "Three apps and websites that offer travellers a local experience, and make sure money you spend benefits people on the ground". South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2157662/three-apps-and-websites-offer-travellers-local-experience. 
  11. ↑ Mody, Makarand; Koslowsky, Kyle (2019-03-20). "Panacea or peril? The implications of Neolocalism as a more intrusive form of tourism" (in en). Boston Hospitality Review 7 (1). ISSN 2326-0351. https://www.bu.edu/bhr/2019/03/20/panacea-or-peril-the-implications-of-neolocalism-as-a-more-intrusive-form-of-tourism/. Retrieved 2019-10-22. 
  12. ↑ Kovacheva, Alexandra; Lamberton, Cait (2018). "Whose Experience Is It, Anyway?Psychological Ownership and Enjoyment of Shared Experiences". in Joann, Joann. Psychological ownership and consumer behavior. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. pp. 197. ISBN 9783319771588. OCLC 1034551562. 
  13. ↑ Maurer, Oswin (2018). "Tourism and food: Necessity or experience?". in Beeton, Sue. The study of food, tourism, hospitality and events: 21st-century approaches. Singapore: Springer. pp. 30. ISBN 9789811306389. OCLC 1040694357. https://books.google.com/books?id=Dv5fDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26. 
  14. ↑ "Reisplatform Withlocals uit Eindhoven haalt 8 miljoen euro groeikapitaal op". https://www.ed.nl/economie/reisplatform-withlocals-uit-eindhoven-haalt-8-miljoen-euro-groeikapitaal-op~a53daff3. 
  15. ↑ Verstegen, Gert-Jan (2017-10-11). "Eindhovense startup Withlocals haalt 3,5 miljoen euro op" (in nl). RTL Nieuws. https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/geld-en-werk/artikel/3693681/eindhovense-startup-withlocals-haalt-35-miljoen-euro-op. 
  16. ↑ "With $500K in Seed funding secured, Withlocals wants to localize the travel experience in Asia" (in en-US). 2013-09-23. https://startupbeat.com/withlocals-qa-id3458/7696/. 
  17. ↑ "Withlocals connects travelers with locals through food and shared experiences" (in en). 2017-01-09. https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/news/withlocals-connects-travelers-locals-through-food-and-shared-experiences. 
  18. ↑ "Withlocals Co-founder Marijn Maas Aims for 10,000 New Home Dining Spots Across Asia" (in en-US). 2014-05-16. https://siamstartup.com/news/withlocals-co-founder-marijn-maas-aims-10000-new-home-dining-spots-across-asia/. 
  19. ↑ M, Valentina (2016-01-13). "Viaggi autentici con le esperienze WITHLOCALS" (in it-IT). https://www.viaggiarelibera.com/viaggi-autentici-con-le-esperienze-withlocals-italia-e-mondo/. 
  20. ↑ "Travel experiences marketplace Withlocals picks up $4.2M in Series A funding" (in en-US). http://social.techcrunch.com/2017/10/11/travel-experiences-marketplace-withlocals-picks-up-4-2m-in-series-a-funding/. 
  21. ↑ "Withlocals walks away with €8M to support peer-to-peer experiences service" (in en). https://www.phocuswire.com/WithLocals-8-million-funding-round. 
  22. ↑ "Withlocals haalt €8 miljoen aan groeigeld op" (in nl-NL). 2019-03-05. https://innovationorigins.com/nl/withlocals-haalt-e8-miljoen-aan-groeigeld-op/. 
  23. ↑ "Withlocals" (in en-US). https://www.inkefcapital.com/portfolio/withlocals-2/. 
  24. ↑ "Withlocals" (in en-US). https://www.keenventurepartners.com/portfolio/withlocals. 
  25. ↑ "Withlocals, a Dutch travel scaleup raises €8M to expand into more cities" (in en-US). 2019-03-06. https://siliconcanals.com/news/withlocals-a-dutch-travel-scaleup-raises-e8m-to-expand-into-more-cities/. 
  26. ↑ Taylor, Chloe (2019-09-04). "These are the top 10 start-ups to work for in the Netherlands, according to LinkedIn" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/04/linkedin-top-start-ups-to-work-for-in-the-netherlands.html. 
  27. ↑ "All cities". https://www.withlocals.com/all-cities/. 



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