Europe city guide publisher, Spotted by Locals, expands to North America

Launched today: New York and San Francisco city guides

30 JANUARY 2013, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Summary
Today, Spotted by Locals, a leading publisher of up-to-date city guides written only by locals, launched its New York and San Francisco city guides - the first in a series of 7 North American city guides to be published in the first half of 2013. This is in addition to the already existing 44 European city guides.
Today, Spotted by Locals, a leading publisher of up-to-date city guides written only by locals, launched the New York and San Francisco city guides - the first in a series of 7 North American city guides to be published in the first half of 2013. This is in addition to the already existing 44 European city guides.

Spotted by Locals was created in 2008 by Sanne and Bart van Poll, a married couple from Amsterdam. As two travel addicts frequently frustrated  by the obvious, touristy, impersonal, and out-of-date tips they found in their travel guides and online, they launched their own blog network, based on expertise from locals.

Starting as an experiment blog with insider tips for Amsterdam, there are now 245 locals ("Spotters") in 46 cities writing about their favorite spots always keeping their tips up-to-date. The Spotted by Locals guides are available as blogs, as PDF guides, and as mobile (iPhone & Android) apps. The founders handpick all of the Spotters, and consequently meet them in person in their city. Only locals who speak the local language, live in the city they write about, and are passionate about their city are selected to become "Spotters".

The 10 new New York and San Francisco Spotters have written about spots you won't find in travel guides. For example: a junk shop in Brooklyn that rents out books by the foot, a kitschy and cheap "bring your own booze" Bangladeshi bar/restaurant in Manhattan, a thé hipster spot to visit for Milanese cocktails in New York, an outdoor San Francisco Salsa gathering on Sundays, and last but not least, one of the few San Francisco coffee shops without wi-fi.

Expanding to North America is a logical, but also a very exciting step for the company and its founders. Sanne van Poll: "We're confident it will be a success. In the past few years we have received so many applications from enthusiastic locals in North American cities who were very eager to start sharing their passion for their city by writing for us. We really couldn't wait any longer! We are thrilled to have launched the New York and San Francisco city guides, and we are very excited to return to Canada and the US in the following months to launch 5 more city guides."
Quotes
"We're confident it will be a success. In the past few years we have received so many applications from enthusiastic locals in North American cities who were very eager to start sharing their passion for their city by writing for us. We really couldn't wait any longer! We are thrilled to have launched the New York and San Francisco city guides, and we are very excited to return to Canada and the US in the following months to launch 5 more city guides." Sanne van Poll (co-founder)
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About Spotted by Locals

Spotted by Locals is a series of blogs, PDF city guides and mobile (iPhone, Android) apps with up-to-date tips by handpicked local writers in 46 cities in Europe and North America.

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