Honchos

Young, fun and energetic
Your local Honcho is a friend in a distant city. A regular tour operator might call them tour guides or city guides, but they're not, they're Honchos. Think of them as a local buddy - there to share their city and life with you for a couple of days, not just give you an introduction. We ask them to be available from 9am to 9pm each day and some choose to stay out later for a drink. We cover all their expenses to ensure they'll only take you to the places they would want to go and so there's no funny business.

Honchos have grown up in their city and love showing you around - not just the tourist sites (they are important too!) but the real heartbeat of the city, its' people and those underground places you normally need weeks to find! They're not libraries of local history, but can definitely show you where to find one. They can show you how to use local transport, where to change money, their favourite cafes, bars and restaurants, can translate all the latest gossip and if there is something they don't know they have the language skills to find out.

Your Honcho probably has some ideas about what you should see in their city - but there is no pressure to do any suggested activities; if you want to do your own thing they will help you with directions, a few local sayings or maybe scrawl a basic map on a napkin - then leave you to it...

Who are they
Honchos are usually local students who speak excellent English, and love their job because they can meet people from around the world, hang out with them, show them their city or town and have a great time in the process... it's more like a 'cultural exchange' than a job. We find them the way we find our friends - personal introductions and word-of-mouth. And while it all might sound like carefree fun, Honchos undertake a training program with a more experience 'Head Honcho' who can relate those funny/lost/what the? moments and just what to do with a drunken sailor...