Tourists in New York City can usually be found in the same spots year after year, running the gamut between Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Statue of Liberty. But as one of the most vibrant and culturally stimulating cities in the world, New York has so much more to offer.
For wanderers who want to step outside of typical tourist attractions in New York, and in destinations around the world,
wants to help change the way you travel.
Visit.org is an online marketplace for tours and activities sourced from local nonprofit organizations. While Visit.org raises awareness and revenue for these organizations, it also helps tourists find unique local experiences within their travel plans. In an age where in-person human interactions are waning, Visit.org is leveraging technology to create mutually-beneficial encounters between both travelers and locals.
“I realized the need for this type of platform from my most memorable travel experiences, which always had something to do with the local community and unexpected human interactions,” said Michal Alter, cofounder and CEO of Visit.org. “Local nonprofit organizations have very unique access to members of the community and a unique understanding of local history and culture.”
Visit.org does not include service work, but instead focuses on tours, workshops and activities offered by local community members. For example, you can participate in traditional artisanal workshops that benefit women empowerment in Peru or take a tour of a winery that employs people with special needs in Israel. In New York, you can use Visit.org to take cooking classes taught in the homes of local immigrants.
When a tour is booked on Visit.org, 100 percent of the price goes to the nonprofit organization, and Visit.org takes a booking fee charged on top of the tour price. The platform launched in May, and so far, 30 percent of users who book one activity with the site return to book another activity while they’re still traveling.
This year, Visit.org was part of the Columbia Startup Lab accelerator and is currently raising a seed round that is set to close in February.
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