What: Tours by Locals allows you to play tour guide in your own city, creating an itinerary, pricing it and determining the schedule. 

Expected pay: $15+ (set by you)

Husl $core: $$$$$

Commissions & fees: 20%

Where: National and international

Requirements:

  • be able to enter into a legally binding contract;
  • pass a phone interview;
  • reference checks;
  • submission of documents establishing your tour guiding credentials (if any);
  • pass a criminal background check;
  • and provide a tour experience that is likely to be in demand and not repetitive of other adventures that Tours by Locals offers in the same town

Review:

Like Vayable, Tours by Locals allows you — the guide — to set the itinerary and price it, based on the amount of time it’s likely to take, your expenses and profit margin. You also determine how many people can participate in each tour.

The site takes 20% off the top — a touch more than Vayable. The advantage of this company is that it appears to have more customers (based on the wealth of traveler reviews) and Tours by Locals also rejects new tour guide applicants if they are offering tours that would compete with tours offered by existing guides. In their words: “We are committed to the success of our Tour Guides. Therefore, we may not accept additional Tour Guides in a particular area if we feel that the demand is satisfied by existing Tour Guides.” 

You may use the Site to create a profile of yourself, set up web pages that describe the tours, provide and utilize the calendar to indicate your availability. Once these are complete, ToursByLocals will review them and publish them on the ToursByLocals website. They will then begin collecting bookings and appropriate payments on your behalf.

Although we were unable to find complaints or plaudits from tour guides, this is an employee-friendly structure, which explains the high Husl$core. If this opportunity appeals to you, also check out Vayable and Viator. If you are already in Europe, Asia or the United Arab Emirates, you may also want to sigh up at WithLocals.

What their tour guides say:

We found countless reviews from travelers but none from tour guides. If you have provided tour guide services for Tours By Locals, please hit “contact us” and tell us about the experience.