Pradeep Kumar is a tourism professional and founder of Delhi by Locals in India. The company offers Tours across India, all led by experienced and local guides. “We exist because we love our work, meeting people, helping them to understand our culture and giving them positive, vibrant memories of India,” Kumar says.

Delhi by Locals hosts solo travelers and up to medium-sized groups on both well-known tours as well as or ones customized to special interests. The company has also been chosen by an international travel company to conduct name-branded tours on their behalf.

Pradeep and his company have been featured in many international media like Australian magazine Belle. He has spoken at international travel conferences and his company has been rated “excellent” by 99% of the nearly 600 reviewers posting on Trip Advisor, earning it Certificates of Excellence in 2018, 2019, 2023 and 2024. Pradeep holds a Master’s in tourism and hospitality management, and has spent a year on a U.S. State Department scholarship studying in Washington State (CCIP program at Whatcom community college that impacted his life a lot).
Recently he has done a creative and culture business program at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (April 2024 to October 2024).

Running a tour business is not Pradeep’s only passion, however. In 2017 he began setting aside half of his profits to open Learning by Locals (learningbylocals.org), a registered NGO in Sanjay Colony, a low-income and underserved community in New Delhi. The after-school program attracts 1000+ students to its regularly offered classes in its own dedicated space, helping them develop or hone their skills in spoken and written English, computer science, music, theater and other disciplines. As their aspirations grow, the students are introduced to mentors in other NGOs and the local business community and to cities beyond Delhi where their careers may blossom. Learning by Locals has spontaneously generated a global support network, some of them former Delhi by Locals clients.