New NC State Tech Startup Offers Locals the Opportunity to Offer Genuine Experiences to Tourists

A team of faculty researchers from NCSU’s Social Science and Computer Science programs have teamed up to create a web marketplace for anyone seeking a genuine experience with locals who want to share their unique knowledge and their communities with visitors. People-First Tourism also provides micro-entrepreneurial opportunities for locals to tap into local and global tourist markets.

Travelers can visit www.peoplefirsttourism.com to learn about, explore original experiences such as a farm visit in a rustic corner of North Carolina, a cooking lesson with indigenous women in a Costa Rican village, or a fishing tour on the Outer Banks. People-First Tourism is an opportunity for locals anywhere to convert their skills, knowledge and experiences in such diverse things as rabbit farming, story-telling, art demonstrations and lessons, quilting, waterfall tours and homebrewing and for visitors to see and hear about lives and experiences available almost nowhere else.

The company leverages IT innovation and the economic force of tourism to inspire a world where people develop deep connections with their hosts, experience genuine local cultures, and improve the lives of people they visit.

As a social venture, the founders, Duarte Morais, Gene Brothers, John Bass and Tim Wallace have set up a fund at NC State where individual royalties would go toward student scholarships and research on ways tourism can benefit people at the grassroots.

This new Raleigh business, located at 310 S. Harrington St, Raleigh, celebrated its launch on October 16th. It marks the beginning of the first tech-based, social-venture from NC State.

For more information, contact P1T at info@peoplefirsttourism.com