About Roavi
We help travellers meet the people who live where they're going.
Roavi is a worldwide directory of Local Friends: real locals who spend time with visitors. Travellers find them, message them and agree the plan directly. Roavi is free to use and takes no commission.
At a glance
Free
For travellers and Local Friends to search, message and list
0%
Commission on what travellers and Local Friends agree
Reviewed
Every Local Friend profile, by a person, before it is listed
Worldwide
Anyone can join from any city, in English or Spanish
Mission
Make every trip feel like visiting a friend.
Travel platforms sell rooms, tours and rides. What none of them give you is the thing the best trips have in common: someone who lives there. The person who knows where locals eat, which beach has no resort on it, and which streets to skip after dark.
Roavi exists to make that person easy to find, anywhere, and to give the people who make a city worth visiting a fair way to benefit from the visitors who come.
How Roavi works
A directory and a conversation.
- 01
Travellers find a Local Friend
By city, language and what someone is great for. Every profile is a real person who lives there, reviewed by our team before it is listed.
- 02
They message, free
The plan, the place and the Local Friend's rate are agreed between them in Roavi's messages. Roavi does not process bookings or payments.
- 03
Local Friends set their terms
Their own rate, days and hours. Joining is free, and a profile can be paused at any time.
Our business model
Roavi takes no cut of what travellers and Local Friends agree. Local Friends can choose Verified Local, at $9.99 a month, which adds an identity check and a badge on their profile. Searching, messaging, the Community and listing a profile are free for everyone.
Trust and safety
Built for meeting someone new, safely.
Every profile is reviewed
A member of our team reads each Local Friend application, with at least three real photos, before it is listed.
Verified identity
Verified Local Friends have completed an identity check through Stripe Identity.
Report and block
Available in every conversation. Every report is read by our team.
Platonic by policy
Roavi is for companionship, cultural exchange and local discovery. Our Community Guidelines are enforced.
Where we operate
Worldwide, one market at a time.
Anyone can join as a Local Friend from any city. We focus on one market at a time, so that wherever travellers go, there is someone who replies. Our first market is the Dominican Republic.
Leadership
Oscar Garcia
Founder
Contact
Get in touch.
- Press
- hello@roavi.com, with "Press" in the subject
- Partnerships
- hello@roavi.com, with "Partnerships" in the subject
- Account help
- Help Center