#global greeter network

[livingbigonless]

Imagine traveling or moving to a new city and having a local show you around the city for free. There are networks of volunteers that love their cities so much that they’ll bend over backwards to show you exactly what makes them love the place they call home. See the links on our travel page

[frametales-blog]

I have just read - correction: seen - a nice news report on the first 'greeter' at the Belgian Coast. 'Greeters' are volunteering locals who are willing to guide tourists through their city. For free. In contrast with guides, greeters focus more on having a dialogue with their visitors. Where a guide focuses on telling some well-defined facts & figures of a place, a greeter mainly tries to share the love for his/her city with the tourists. It's an emotional story. Stories told by people who actually live(d) the story have much more power to engage the audience. In the terms of The Marketing Bible (no, not the one from Kotler, but the ancient one, listed as one of the most best-selling books of all time) we call it the power of 'evangelism'. Evangelism is often used for doubtful reasons, but in this case I can only applaud for the initiative. Sharing beliefs, sharing love while welcoming people reinforces the mutual understanding. Eventually, it can lead to a sustainable tourism. If I am fascinated by a home-made story about the place I'm visiting, it will color my experience. If a local explains me the dunes protect the fauna of a particular region, I tend more to dislike real estate projects that are trying to destroy those dunes. Good stories stimulate empathy. Certainly when they're told without any commercial objectives in mind. That's why the 'Global Greeter Network', originally founded in New York, is a non-profit organization. The volunteering aspect is very important. Real love can't be bought.