Odyssey Tours and Travels, a leading Pune based IATA accredited travel consultancy firm has launched Interactive Virtual Experiences to beat the lockdown blues and keep the spirit of travel alive. The Corona virus has put everyone’s travel plans on hold and the prolonged uncertainty with changing government regulations & quarantine rules has made it virtually impossible for anyone to travel in the near horizon.
To keep the wanderlust alive, Odyssey has introduced a series of virtual experiences which are LIVE one-hour interactive sessions conducted every weekend by professional local guides & destination experts. These sessions are curated, privately guided, informative and unique as they’re from across the world - from Africa to South America, from Asia and Europe, from Japan to Antarctica. The experiences are varied to suit everyone’s interests – travel enthusiasts can choose from museum & art tours, immersive destination experiences, wildlife photography, wellness and more.
According to Nikhil Thakurdas, CEO of Odyssey, ‘we have been in touch with our clients through the lockdown and almost all of them have shown a desire to travel. They are just waiting for things to stabilise so that its safe and relatively hassle free to travel again. But with the prolonged lockdown and the continued uncertainty, they have deferred all travel plans till September / October for now. Nikhil goes on to add, ‘that’s when we started thinking on how can we engage with our clients in a meaningful way so that we can keep their spirit of travel alive and maybe add a destination or two to their bucket list. And that’s how the idea of recreating experiences virtually took shape’.
The Virtual Experiences started in the first week of June and are conducted every weekend on Saturday and Sunday at 5pm. Says Nikhil, ‘we put together a wide range of experiences to cater to the different interests of a multi generation family. Some experiences were exclusively planned for kids and the grandparents - the two most vulnerable age groups in this pandemic who have been at home since mid-March.’ The children focused sessions conducted so far included a workshop on Exploring India by expert storytellers, Quirky Stories from History by Mini Menon, an award winning journalist and author and a Wildlife Safari Experience in South Africa. Experiences for adults included a guided tour of the old city of Jerusalem, an Art Tour of Amsterdam and an understanding into the Tribes and Culture of North East India.
Nikhil goes on to add, ‘the feedback on the sessions has been overwhelming! Guests have given us such positive feedback that we have been motivated to plan new experiences and make this a regular weekend activity’. Odyssey has just announced their August & September experiences which includes a Harry Potter Trail, Leopard Spotting in Yala National Park in Sri Lanka, City Tours of Dubrovnik and Florence and even a whiskey tour and tasting session with Paul John Distillery.
Taking the idea one step forward, Odyssey is also offering Private Virtual Experiences where guests can choose an event, date and time and the bespoke interactive experience can be completely customised and curated. So whether it’s a private cooking session of a country, gin or wine tasting, a private city or museum tour, Odyssey is offering an innovate option to celebrate a special occasion like a birthday, anniversary or even a reunion with family or friends.

About Odyssey Tours and Travels;
Odyssey Tours and Travels is a leading Pune based IATA accredited travel consultancy firm that was established in 1992. Odyssey specialises in customised holiday travel and SME corporate travel. Odyssey is part of the worldwide Uniglobe Travel Network which is the world’s largest single brand travel franchise. For more information about Odyssey, please visit: https://www.odysseytravels.net/about/pune-travel-agents.aspx