Type Private Founded June, 2015 Website www.showaround.com | Industry Travel Founder Linas Sablovskis | |
Showaround is a travel website that also acts as an online marketplace connecting tourists with locals who are ready to show visitors the best of their home cities.
History
The website was founded in June 2015 by Linas Sablovskis. The site allows locals to sign up with their profiles and post information about themselves, the languages they speak and their interests so that a tourist who wants to choose a local can select accordingly. Locals choose their hourly rates to guide the tourists and gain credibility via reviews and feedback like most other online marketplaces. The website now has profiles of locals in almost all major European cities and is moving on to sign ups by locals in the US.
The website ensures that the visitor doesn't have to do all that research or planning before your trip. An account set up, entering a destination in the search bar can get the user a list of locals available in the area. The profiles of the locals advertise their knowledge, background and what types of city tours they can offer. The user can also narrow down your search by using the advanced filters. Then a local can be selected and a booking request can be sent. Once that’s done, the user can then select the date, meeting time and duration, as well as add comments about expectations and interests for the tour.
USA Today reports the method employed by Showaround as an alternative to group tours that still involves some extent of planning. The website has received further debate under analysis of online gig economy and how it is expanding the domain of music to all other domains including travel and tourism. The service has also received coverage and reviews on other media platforms including National Geographic Traveler.
The service is currently available as a website to be browsed on the web and on the iOS platform as an app, however, an upcoming Android app has also been reported.