Peliqan.ai: Meet the CEO. Pushing the next revolution in travel.
What’s in a name, Chief Executive Officer? I would rather say Chief Entertainment Officer. Building a business is no joke. People get together and work hard to reach a common goal. However, setbacks are bound to happen. It is the task of the entertainment officer to keep people motivated at the toughest moments.
Hello readers, hello world. I am Bhup, CEO and co-founder of Peliqan.ai. A platform serving travellers by making them feel at home at undiscovered destinations combining our on-site friends network with advanced technology.
Travelling has been fascinating to me ever since I was a child. The Idea that you could step in this flying box called a plane and a couple of hours later you could be at the other side of the world, astounded me. The idea of flying to your destination was unthinkable just a few generations back, let alone the idea that it would be as accessible as it is today.
In the prehistoric ages humans dreamt of flying, making cave scriptures to visualize the concept. Modern day humans built these planes and now we are supposed to act like it is just another form of transportation.
Developments of jet engines made the world an infinitely small place. Humans used to travel an entire day to get to the next big city, but nowadays we can be on the other side of the planet in less than that. The quality of encounters therefore has been declining ever since. All cities that once were the world’s trading hubs like Pisa, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam or even Goa in India are now completely focused on tourists and have lost their authenticity. Travellers have become a target to sell useless trinkets to. As a traveller, arriving in a city you haven’t been to before, you might think that you would be having an authentic trip. But no, you ended up in a theme park full of commercial nonsense.
The other side of the story is that we now live in a new, fast world in which people are heavily connected. I believe we are connected, but rather in a cold way. We forgot that online interaction should be supporting real-life interactions and not the other way around. We should think about that in every sector where online and IT interactions have been implemented to make processes more efficient.
I started in the travel sector. Creating a platform where travellers can meet new friends in undiscovered cities, even before you are there. With this platform you can get great city trip recommendations from locals that have potential to become your friends, based on their profile. Tinder works. Why shouldn’t we use that concept for travelling?
Peliqan searches for locals that are hospitable and open to introduce travellers to their city. Pelifriends, as we call them, are open-minded, in search of authenticity and hungry for knowledge. Let’s say the new generation of travellers. Some call them millennial travellers. They join as pelifriends and become part of our community. Guests can browse this community and find people that are like-minded and the same kind of traveller.
In the future we will use some questions and powerful AI to match you with the most like-minded pelifriends. When affinity is found, they will be 4 clicks away from a great travel experience. If you think about it, Uber makes me feel at home in every city on the planet. I walk out of the airport with one click someone picks me up and takes me where I want to go. That is supported by the advanced technology Uber uses to connect you with a driver within seconds. The feeling of being at home, is created by being able to rely certain things. Uber therefore makes me feel at home, because I know for sure that this click will bring where I want to go. That is why Peliqan.ai, next to the friends network, embraced advanced technology as their second pillar.
There is one rule we implemented throughout the whole platform. Everything that is bookable, should be bookable in 4 clicks. That’s it, no exceptions. This meant we had to develop a powerful API-based booking engine with live connections with museums, attractions and other activities. The API connection with a payment service provider delivers safe payments, also suitable for recurring payments. This API connection network provides the guest with a seamless digital experience.
Remember going to a new place and that the information overload got you feeling like you knew nothing? That feeling is similar to the feeling of being lost. And being lost is not a feeling that fits our “feeling at home” policy. That is why Peliqan uses artificial intelligence. Using city data in order to make products relevant for you. So, based on the time of the day, location, weather and busyness at locations, we only show the ones that are relevant for your situation.
We are not there yet. But I feel, that we are going in the right direction, towards a world in which every city feels like home. Your home because you can access everything with the powerful engine that is in your pocket, every day at any moment. A world that is your home, because a worldwide network of hospitable and open friends has become accessible to you, because of Peliqan. Peliqan as a worldwide community of world explorers becoming Pelifriends.
For you, I would like to invite you to become a friend on the platform to bring us closer to our goal.
Making the world our home.
Not only fulfilling my dream, but a dream that should be one of us all.


