I get the invites from my hometown and from all over. Honestly I have no idea why some of the HO’s have any interest in me other than desperation. If they actually looked at my profile it’s obvious that I avoid large cities, large bully breeds and tiny yappy dogs. I like cats and low maintenance dogs and the occasional bird. I turn down the vast majority of my invitations.
Ultimately, everyone has their own reason for sitting- it’s not always travel. We used it as a way to figure out where we wanted to move permanently. We also did local sits to build up reviews early on. I think it’d be a great way for people who have roommates to get some solo space for themselves sometimes.
If you’re not interested in local sits you can always put something about that in your profile. But like others, we found it easiest to just say “thanks for the invite but unfortunately we’re not available and best wishes finding a sitter.”