Quite a number of times I had to explain who MeetnGreeter is. People like to compare new phenomena with things they already know.

-Is MeetnGreeter like a personal assistant?
-A sort of.
-Oh, so it’s a concierge, right?
-A kind of, though we do much more.
-Hmm, so it is what travel agencies do.
-Well, partly yes.

First of all, I start explaining that MeetnGreetMe is a global platform for finding dedicated help from local people abroad. It is a venue to receive tailor-made services delivered by local assistants who are personally vetted and thoroughly verified by MeetnGreetMe team. MeetnGreetMe complements the existing hospitality industry by bringing authentic emotions, hassle-free travel and fun.

It’s exclusively based on your travel needs. They say so many men so many minds. We at MeetnGreetMe say - so many men so many travel needs. Indeed, we are so different that there is hardly a concept of an ideal trip that fits everyone. Ideal trips differ while issues are quite often the same. That’s actually the point where MeetnGreetMe stands out. While dealing with absolutely different requests local people share their local expertise, hospitality and authentic experiences with travelers. Assist at a conference? Sure thing! Organize a bachelor party at a local venue? With pleasure! Plan a day and make all the arrangements? Absolutely! Find and book coworking centers? Sure!

The travel industry has so many things to offer and new products, gadgets and apps appear every week. To give you a better understanding of what MeetnGreetMe is and what MeetnGreeter does, I compared MeetnGreeters with well-known travel industry players -personal assistants, concierges, and travel agencies. Let’s go!

1. MeetnGreeter vs. personal assistant

It is probably the most frequent comparison. MeetnGreeters will be happy to book an apartment, a restaurant table, arrange a yoga lesson or find a co-working space in a specific area, as well as accompany you to business events, just like a personal assistant. But it’s not really convenient to take your personal assistant with you on a trip. Moreover, your personal assistant might not speak the native language and have enough local expertise to promptly find suitable venues or services. That’s exactly where local MeetnGreeters can lend you a hand.

They provide personal assistance services with a really vast list of options: from online information support in a messenger before and during your trip to meeting you upon arrival at the airport, then guiding you to the hotel, booking a few restaurants, arranging shopping tours and assisting you at a conference. Our MeetnGreeters have already successfully organized visits of delegations, arranged fun activities for them, helped individual business travelers and became helpful friends who assisted travelers with any matter:

Kenneth Blomqvist, Finland

I was very pleased with MeetnGreetMe service and would definitely use it again, should I get the opportunity. It just makes everything much easier and you get access to knowledge that is either not possible to find or extremely hard to find online, especially when not speaking the native language.

2. MeetnGreeter vs. a concierge

MeetnGreetMe is a peer-to-peer platform for getting dedicated help with your personal request while you travel, and sometimes people say that a hotel concierge is enough to solve any issue, to answer all the questions, to get advice on places to visit and restaurants to eat out and, generally, to be the one to whom you can turn with any request. And this is correct, of course. But only during your trip (no assistance before your trip), only if your hotel has concierge service, only if a hotel concierge is not busy with doing the same for another guest, and only if you have no offbeat requests. For instance, a hotel concierge will hardly organize a bachelor party, neither they will take you for bar crawling or accompany you to see a doctor when you need it. However, MeetnGreeters provide such services and do this really well.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Almahrooki, Oman

The best memories I have is the good times we had with our friends from Belarus and the nice restaurants and the beautiful city sites. Definitely, I am planning to come back with family and friends. Belarus is a very hospitable country with very friendly people, rich culture, and history, modern and very clean infrastructure.

 

And another point is that MeetnGreeter will take care of your needs even before you start packing your luggage. Need advice on where to stay? Maybe you need some pre-arrangements, organizing tours to local attractions or anything else? Just contact a local MeetnGreeter to travel carefree.

In any case, we do have hotel concierges as MeetnGreeters – for example, Ben from London and Bogdan from Minsk. But on MeetnGreetMe they offer much more than can be requested from a hotel concierge.

3. MeetnGreeter vs. a travel agency

You can actually think of MeetnGreetMe as your personal travel agency. MeetnGreetMe is built on the principles of sharing economy. On one side there are customers who need a service or a product and on the other side, there are this product or service providers to share it with customers. The involvement of resourceful local people helps not to overpay for everything just because you are a tourist. Airbnb and Uber operate on the model of sharing economy. People share their accommodation or vehicles and time to get paid for that. In the case of MeetnGreetMe, people share their local expertise and time with those who need it.

Another distinguishing point is that MeetnGreetMe gives a personal approach and individualized services tailored to your needs. No matter, what services you need, no matter what your travel dates are, the number of people in the group, your interests and budget – on MeetnGreetMe you will find the best match.

Josh, USA

A local I found on MeetnGreetMe.com helped me to record great music at the local studio and even organized a concert at a local club. This was a truly fascinating experience!

4. MeetnGreeter vs. a tour guide

MeetnGreeters are also sometimes compared to tour guides. Of course, a MeetnGreeter will be happy to show you around and create a tour tailored to your needs (e.g. show you the best street art in the city, or avant-garde buildings, or best parks and gardens, you name it), but it’s just a small part of what a MeetnGreeter can do for you. A tour guide is unlikely to meet you at the airport, book restaurants for 45 people and arrange a tank ride. A MeetnGreeter, though, can help with all of this.

Are you interested to try it out during your next trip? Hit the orange button to start a truly authentic adventure!