If you miss traveling, you are not alone, because frankly, so do we. In fact, we miss it quite a lot, which led us to think about how we could continue to enjoy traveling, even if it had to be transferred to some kind of virtual tourism platform.
We decided to begin the realization of the idea that we had in mind for some time and engage in building a community for everyone who wants to keep traveling.
WHEN AND WHERE DID THE IDEA OF SAMIBELI ORIGINATE?
Back in February 2019, we spent a holiday in Mexico with our three kids, who were two, four, and six years old at that time. One day, we were at the beach in Playa del Carmen, and we were wondering about visiting Chichen Itza. It was a fantastic opportunity for us to use, given the fact that one of the seven wonders of the world was so close to us.
Even though Chichen Itza was close, it was still a two hours’ drive. With our three small children, we were not so sure if it was worth the struggle – they were so small and they would not be able to endure the trip.
During our indecision, we thought about how it would be amazing if we could hire someone who is already there to show us around, so we could have a better idea of what to expect.
Yes, we know that nowadays we can basically see anything we want to by just searching for photos on the internet. Our point was how it would be great if someone, who is physically there, could show us the place and tell us more about it first-hand. It would be like a virtual tour before we could decide if it was worth the actual physical journey, for which we should travel for more than four hours.
Thinking about the possibility of virtual travel, we had an aha moment, where we proposed an idea of creating a virtual tours platform, for people who would find themselves in situations exactly like ours.
And just like that, at the beach of Playa del Carmen in Mexico, the idea of Samibeli was born.
THE NAME: SAMIBELI
The name „Samibeli“ was derived from the beginning letters of the names of our 4 children. It is symbolic since we have our children to thank to for composing the idea of a remote tourism platform for virtual travel.
What we also want to point out is that Samibeli is, in fact, a family company that emerged from figuring out ways to help ourselves, but then it grew into a solution to a problem for many people on a global scale.
The fact that we can claim that and live up to it is our biggest pride, as well as creating an opportunity to connect people all over the world into one meaningful virtual travel community.
VIRTUAL TRAVEL DURING CHALLENGING TIMES
Not even in our wildest dreams did any of us expect the events that had occurred in 2020 and that are still ongoing in 2021 and probably beyond.
During the year 2020, the entire world was forced to pause. Events, festivals, and even the Olympics were canceled, tourism has abruptly stopped and all of us were locked down in our homes. All these inconveniences put a major toll on our lives and routines.
The year 2020 made us adjust to the new normal very quickly and abruptly, which was quite a global shock effect and damaged the tourism industry globally by trillions. But as time went by, people became nostalgic for experiences and adventures.
We were presented the perfect opportunity to develop our virtual remote tourism platform for virtual travel. With Samibeli, we got the chance to help, not just the people who were in the exact situation like us, but all the people globally during tough times.
From their homes and their backyards, from their couches and their beds, people can enjoy virtual tours of cities around the world and not miss a thing, despite not being able to physically visit the place.
REMOTE TOURISM PLATFORM AND VIRTUAL TOURS AS A COMMUNITY AND ITS BENEFITS
We have developed Samibeli in form of an app, with the idea to connect users, who are virtual tourists with Tour Guides for virtual travel.
Samibeli is a platform where users can connect, get informed, ask questions and search for destinations to book virtual tours.
Tour Guides get the opportunity to connect with users, answer their questions, get an insight into what they like to see the most. They can also get in touch with each other and share their guiding experiences.
Another opportunity that Samibeli as a community offers to Tour Guides is the opportunity to continue working under current circumstances and experience a new possibility of performing their guiding services. It is also a chance to broaden their audience to people from different sides of the world who want to experience virtual travel.
One of the great benefits of Samibeli is availability.
Our free virtual tours app will be available for download on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store, so basically, everyone with a smartphone will be able to easily access our virtual tours platform.
We are also very aware of the financial toll that the unfortunate global events have caused to most people. It is why one of the many benefits of Samibeli are affordable and, most of the time, free virtual tours.
VIRTUAL TOURS APP FOR EVERYONE
So, here we are, building a platform to take tourism to a new level with virtual travel.
There is no longer a need to worry about how to travel and get closer to various places amidst current global circumstances because we want to bring all the places of the world closer to you.
We are more than excited to share the wonders and experiences of virtual tourism with you on Samibeli.
