Spotted by Locals
| Spotted by Locals | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Travel Guides |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam |
| Destinations | 52 Travel guides |
| http://www.SpottedbyLocals.com | |
Spotted by Locals is a publisher of a series of Travel guides on European cities. In each of the (currently) 52 cities, 4 to 6 local authors ("Spotters"), share information about their favorite spots in the city where they live, and always keep the articles up to date.
Spotted by Locals is a city blog network that is edited by people who live in the city they write about and speak the local language. All Spotters are selected by founders Sanne & Bart van Poll.
Spotted by Locals is aimed at travelers who want local information about a city, and avoid the typical tourist spots.
Tips provided on the city blogs can be browsed online, and are also available as iPhone and Android applications. Visitors can also download a monthly updated PDF cityguide (at a charge of Euro 2.99) for each city, which includes the updated versions of articles with an index and maps.
Access to travel information from locals is gaining popularity amongst travelers and travel organizations like Lonely Planet.[1] In 2010, Spotted by Locals was one of the co-founders of LocalTravelMovement.com, a not-for-profit responsible travel website and discussion platform aiming to unite companies who commit to operating with Local Travel values.
The Spotted by Locals concept has received coverage on BBC World,[2] and in newspapers and magazines like The Guardian,[3] the Sueddeutsche Zeitung,[4] Le Monde, [5] The Sunday Times, [6] and National Geographic Traveler.
Spotted by Locals has also been mentioned in The Telegraph, [7] Gadling and [8] The Times, [9]
History
| Mar 2008 | Spotted by Locals was founded by Sanne & Bart van Poll, a married couple of avid travelers from Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
| Apr 2008: | Founders start a 6 month road trip to 21 cities in Europe, to select the first 120 Spotters |
| Nov 2008: | Winner of Mashable Open Web Awards[10] in the category "Travel" |
| Feb 2009: | Winner of Lonely Planet Travel Blog Award in the "Best Group authored Travel blog" category |
| Oct 2010: | Winner of Guardian newspaper "Best Travel Website" Award[11] |
| Feb 2011: | Launch of iPhone application |
| Jul 2012: | Launch of Android applications |
| Jan 2013: | Launch of first city guides in North America: Boston, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington DC |
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Notes
- ↑ Lonely Planet Travel Blog - Get Lost, Go local
- ↑ Best of the web - BBC World, 19 February 2010
- ↑ The Guardian - Spotted online: local guides to Europe's cities, 18 March 2009
- ↑ Reiseblog Spotted by Locals - Lieblingsplätze der Insider, 17 September 2009
- ↑ Une site anti-piège à touristes - Le Monde, 14 April 2009
- ↑ The Sunday Times - The best travel guides on the web, April 3, 2009
- ↑ The Telegraph - Travel advice: data roaming charges, August 8, 2011
- ↑ Gadling - Iphone app review, January 28, 2012
- ↑ The Times - 50 top websites for travel, January 29, 2013
- ↑ Mashable Open Web Awards
- ↑ Guardian and Observer "Best Travel Website" award
