For years, tour bus companies have driven a rut through the same San Francisco attractions. From the Golden Gate Bridge, to Muir Woods and Napa Valley – commoditized, often boring tours have become the norm. For visitors to San Francisco looking for something different with a personal touch – a new service called Skyara is breaking new ground. Skyara has created a review-based marketplace for travel “experience” offerings – ranging from personalized tours of popular attractions to very unique services such as glamour photography and shadowing an executive chef as they choose the finest fresh, local produce.

The service was originally conceived as a more mundane tour booking service. However, the team realized that Skyara could focus on a totally different type of tours. By allowing independent providers– “regular folks”– to create visitor experiences – it opened up a whole new market for memorable experiences in San Francisco travel.

On a recent visit to San Francisco, we had an amazing tour of vineyards, markets, and restaurants with a wonderful personal guide. The guide knew every trick, tip, and brought us to her favorite vendors. The small tour was radically different than the throngs of tourists we saw pouring out of buses at the sites. Skyara can allow San Francisco visitors to find exactly the experience they want to maximize their own memorable trip to the City. What are some of the experiences you can sometimes find?

Here are examples of some of the unusual and personal experiences that Skyara offers:

“Dating for Dummies”: Two attractive women meet up with you at a bar to assess your skills and make recommendations. For the best candidates, match-making opportunities may be available…?

Sausalito by Kayak: An experienced Kayak guide takes you around the shores of Sausalito including nighttime tours, sunset tours, and detailed information about the area. Reviewers show the trip as being both “spectacular and unforgettable”…

Create Art with Glass: Use hot, molded glass to create your own personal art with an expert in the glass-blowing craft. The class includes all materials, training, and firing of your glass art piece.

Actors Makeup Workshop: A professional makeup artist teaches you how to look your best including a professional makeover (just like on Oprah!) , and tips for hairstyling, skin-tone, plus photo-shoot secrets and photographer referrals.

You can see that Skyara allows visitors (and locals) to connect with San Francisco in a much more meaningful way than a bland tour bus ride. The service is linked into Facebook and for many service providers, you can see reviews from past customers. Like the fast growing AirBnB which matches empty homes and rooms with travelers – Skyara is developing a new marketplace for travel engagement. While it’s not perfect for every business traveler or family, check it out to see if you can spend a day trying out an activity of a lifetime.

Skyara is the innovative service of three New York consultants, who left high-powered banking and consulting careers to pursue their dreams. The team is a combination of self-taught programming skills and business / marketing management focused on innovative travel products. The company is funded by I/O Ventures and located in the innovative Summit Café offices in San Francisco’s vibrant “start-up” district South of Market.

About sfTravel Startup Voice: Each month – sfTravel highlights a Bay Area startup focused on the travel industry. Our analysis brings home how startups can assist travelers and builds a link into the San Francisco travel business scene. To suggest story ideas, contact sfTravel here.