On www.SpottedbyLocals.com, the first series of cityblogs of its kind, handpicked bloggers write about spots and pass on local tips from a personal and local perspective. All potential bloggers are selected after a face to face interview. Only “real” locals that are really passionate about their city are selected.
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City travelers are increasingly looking to learn more about the local culture of their chosen destination. Paperback travel guides and websites with user generated travel information often fail to offer this “local” perspective...

On www.SpottedbyLocals.com, the first series of cityblogs of its kind, handpicked bloggers write about spots and pass on local tips from a personal and local perspective. All potential bloggers are selected after a face to face interview. Only “real” locals that are really passionate about their city are selected.

Spotted by Locals has recently launched 18 European city blogs, and will be launching a further 5 in the coming months.

Modern city travelers are looking for local experiences
The success of the Couchsurfing project (where visitors can stay with locals instead of in hotels) shows that city travelers are progressively looking to learn more about the local culture of their destination. They do not only want to “do a city” by visiting standard highlights. 

Travel guide authors are often travelers themselves, and as such cannot necessarily offer the local perspective readers are looking for. Also a lot of the time the information in paperback travel guides quickly becomes inaccurate or no longer current.

Travelers are increasingly turning to the Internet to source a wealth of travel tips written by locals and travelers alike. However, it is often difficult or plain impossible to see who is behind the "local" travel tips. Is it really a bona fide native or actually a traveler who has only visited the spot once? Perhaps it is even the proprietor of the spot with motivations of self-interest?

Real local content by real local bloggers
On the Spotted by Locals cityblogs, real locals ("Spotters") write about the places they regularly frequent or enjoy visiting. All articles are categorized into an area, and one or more "activity" categories like bars, restaurants, art & culture and places to relax. All Spotters are presented prominently on the site with their real names, a picture and a detailed personal profile. 

Spotted by Locals sees that the key to creating high quality, up-to-date and authentic content is a face-to-face interview with the potential Spotter. After establishing if they meet the required criteria, are really passionate about their city and speak the local language, they are then selected to write for one of the blogs. 

About Spotted by Locals
Spotted by Locals was started in 2008 by avid travelers (and married couple) Sanne & Bart van Poll. It is the first cityblog-network with handpicked bloggers who write about spots and pass on travel tips from a personal and local perspective. It has recently launched 18 European city blogs, and currently has 90 Spotters.  For more information, to schedule an interview, or for French / Spanish / German / Italian versions of this release, please contact Bart van Poll | Bart[at]SpottedbyLocals.com

Posted by Eric Ward on 11/19/08
Tags: SpottedbyLocals.com, travelers, local culture, travel guides, cityblogs
Permanent URL for this page: http://www.urlwire.com/news/111908.html

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