Once you have properly planned an affordable trip via acareful review of your cheaptravel options, including cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, discounttravel deals, and cheap vacation packages, youmight want to consider using a local person at your destination to help youplan activities if you are unfamiliar with your destination.
This is especially important if you will be at yourdestination for a short period of time and do not want to spend a lot ofpersonal time researching possible activities.
There is a new service called ViaHero that offers localswith expert knowledge of a specific destination that will tailor a personalizedtrip to exactly what a given person wants to do on vacation.
While it is not hard to identify major landmarks worthvisiting, it is much more difficult to find great local food spots, or nationalsprings that are not in guide books.
ViaHero pairs a traveler with a local Hero who identifiesactivities the traveler would enjoy after a short online interview. The service currently is using locals inCuba, Iceland, and Japan, with plans to expand soon.
Heroes provide travel consulting, on-the-groundarrangements, and build a personalized guidebook and custom maps with localrecommendations. This is turn enablestravelers to save time, discover hidden gems, and have everything that theyneed on the ViaHero mobile app.
ViaHero fills a niche for independent travelers who lackthe time and local knowledge to expertly plan an international trip,particularly to off the beaten destinations. Increasingly, people are looking for unique, local experiences.
In the past travelers have had to spend serious timeplanning upcoming trips, or wing it once they get there, or use a travel agentwho lacks local knowledge and is incentivized to sell a more expensivetrip. ViaHero contends that it iseasier, cheaper, and faster to have a local arrange everything.
Its users have been able to drive classic cars in Cuba, seethe Northern Lights at hidden spots in Iceland, and enjoy the best food inTokyo.
ViaHero launched in 2016 with Cuba as its firstdestination, followed by Iceland and Japan in 2017. It is slated to expand to destinations acrossAsia, Europe, and South America in 2018.
ViaHero positions itself like a travel agent to the Airbnbcrowd. The services targets customerswho want to travel to places such as Cuba, Iceland, and Japan without payingfor expensive, guide led group tours.
ViaHero uses locals to plan each trip from $25 perday. This service runs offline in anapp, with no Wi-Fi or data needed. Included are the following services:
Tripconsulting via one on one consulting with a Hero via email. Insider tips will be provided on where to goand what to do.
Travelarrangements are secured in advance. Activities such as tours and guides, dance lessons, local connections,and private dinners can be planned.
Bookingrecommendations are offered for lodging, flights, events and activities sentvia easy to book links.
Apersonalized guidebook is created complete with a custom itinerary,descriptions and pictures, local recommendations, and country specificinformation.
ViaHeros premium plan costs $40 per day and includesoffline map navigation, on the ground phone support, and restaurantreservations.
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