All that you would need is a phone to travel, don't forget it and always keep it charged else you could be in trouble.
My teacher Jack Ma in one of his inspirational discussion spoke about his near future vision regarding travel, he said "one phone would be all that one would need to travel around the world".
The digital revolution is making the vision come true.
Let's assume a consumer international travel experience that has three distinct phases
Pre-Travel, In-Travel and Post Travel.
During all these phases there are certain activities that are desirable;
Pre Travel - Passport, Visa, Air Tickets, Insurance, and Foreign Exchange.
In Travel - Check-ins, Purchases, Payments, Photo capture, Sharings, Maps, and Translations.
Post Travel - Refunds, Feedback, and Repurchase.
For Passport - All Passports will soon be electronic passports with embedded chips and data, these passports would be used to self-scan on the e-gates for permitted entry. The new passports are similar to the old passport and would have three unique usages, it has a data page that contains travelers' authentic biodata and other blank pages for endorsements, these endorsements are of three kinds a) visa endorsements, b) exit-entry stamp endorsements from the origin country and destination country and c) other observational endorsements by the officials to record any observed deviations or warnings etc. And lastly, it has a cover as nationality/ residency/identity indicator.
With e-passports used on e-gates need for stamping has been eliminated as the passport can contain the e-stamp for date and time of entry and exit.
With almost all countries now using computerized systems for logging visitors, the endorsement notes are made on the system instead of the passport as these notes are retained for a long time even if the traveler has renewed his passport.
For Visas - More and more countries are moving to e-visa platforms, this eliminates the need to affix visas on the passport before travel, people can carry printouts instead of stickers affixed on the passports.
So What would remain of passports in near future, Identity and Bio-Data with a Data Chip, so we would not need a booklet, it could be a simple card as small as a credit card, but then all this information on this card is already there on our nationality ID cards, then why do we need the passport. Use National ID cards as a valid travel document as well.
And now all the more, the ID cards are already being digitalized and people can connect these to their phones just like digital credit cards, so why even need cards to scan at the e-gates for entry and exit just use a SmartPhone carrying the digital signature.
For Air tickets, baggage and right to passage & boarding - Most of the air tickets have now become E-tickets, most of the boarding cards have now become e boarding cards that carry QR codes and can be stored on the phones, no need for the printed papers, just scan the QR code on the phones to check in your self at the check-in kiosks, as well as your baggage at automated baggage self-check-in machines which would soon have digital tags just like digital boarding passes that can be received on the phone and stored on them for quick retrieval and usage.
Use the Boarding Card QR code on the phones to scan phones on the e-gates for the right of passage.
For Foreign Exchange - the amount of foreign exchange being carried by people is reducing as E-wallets are getting more and more popular.
For Travel Insurance - most of the travel insurance policy contracts are nowadays electronic, claims are also made electronically, a smartphone can be used to click the photos of the bills and submit digitally for processing of the claims.
For Purchases and Payments at the destination country e-wallets are being used, these e-wallets are activated on traveler's smartphone, payment for accommodation, taxi, food, POI tickets, tour guides, and shopping are all being made by e-wallets.
For Sharing of experiences - travelers are using less and less of laptops to share information, they feel a handy smartphone for instant gratification and sharing with friends in realtime.
For Photo capture - almost no one except professionals are carrying the cameras around, the phone-based cameras are so powerful today that it can take instant pictures and allow instant action on them.
For Refunds - since all purchases are made online and using e-wallets, refunds are also being processed electronically, which are facilitated with digital form filling on phones.
For Feedbacks - I hardly see anyone collecting the paper feedbacks anymore, everyone is using digital methods to collect them and most users are using their phones to give the feedbacks at whatever convenient disposable time they have.
For Translation - Digital applications now can conveniently provide voice translation, text translation, and OCR, so no traveler faces language issues as long as they have a smartphone and are connected to the internet.
For Maps - Once a most important site at the Airports and at various shops at any tourist spots have almost disappeared, Maps are available on phones and provide excellent navigation in the destination country in the user's host language.
Other ancillary services that are experienced throughout the journey are;
Customer Service, phone-based communication messengers allow the traveler to remain accessible for any help required any time with any service.
Telecom Connectivity, it was important to have a destination country SIM card change on the phone to be able to have cost-effective telephone calls over the phones, now a) most travelers are using VOIP calls to remain connected to their people in the home county and many VNOs are offering APP. to Normal Phone call facilities at local rates over VOIP and even issuing the local virtual numbers to be able to receive normal calls. Virtual SIM technology has also made things more convenient and hassle-free.
So we have brought Mr. Jack Ma's Vision to near-perfect implementation and we can modify his words to say "One smartphone would be all that one would need to travel around the world as long as it is connected to the internet and is charged."
Now as far as the internet goes, almost all international airports and smart cities provide free internet access. If not then the international internet roaming charges of the telecom companies have dropped globally, new VNO's are making this cost even lower, and all this is making it really affordable for travelers to remain connected, looking at the development of Bluetooth Mesh technology it seems that internet would no longer be required for use of most of the services at most of the traveler's touchpoints.
All that you would need is a phone to travel, don't forget it and always keep it charged else you could be in trouble.
The digital revolution is making the vision come true.
Let's assume a consumer international travel experience that has three distinct phases
Pre-Travel, In-Travel and Post Travel.
During all these phases there are certain activities that are desirable;
Pre Travel - Passport, Visa, Air Tickets, Insurance, and Foreign Exchange.
In Travel - Check-ins, Purchases, Payments, Photo capture, Sharings, Maps, and Translations.
Post Travel - Refunds, Feedback, and Repurchase.
For Passport - All Passports will soon be electronic passports with embedded chips and data, these passports would be used to self-scan on the e-gates for permitted entry. The new passports are similar to the old passport and would have three unique usages, it has a data page that contains travelers' authentic biodata and other blank pages for endorsements, these endorsements are of three kinds a) visa endorsements, b) exit-entry stamp endorsements from the origin country and destination country and c) other observational endorsements by the officials to record any observed deviations or warnings etc. And lastly, it has a cover as nationality/ residency/identity indicator.
With e-passports used on e-gates need for stamping has been eliminated as the passport can contain the e-stamp for date and time of entry and exit.
With almost all countries now using computerized systems for logging visitors, the endorsement notes are made on the system instead of the passport as these notes are retained for a long time even if the traveler has renewed his passport.
For Visas - More and more countries are moving to e-visa platforms, this eliminates the need to affix visas on the passport before travel, people can carry printouts instead of stickers affixed on the passports.
So What would remain of passports in near future, Identity and Bio-Data with a Data Chip, so we would not need a booklet, it could be a simple card as small as a credit card, but then all this information on this card is already there on our nationality ID cards, then why do we need the passport. Use National ID cards as a valid travel document as well.
And now all the more, the ID cards are already being digitalized and people can connect these to their phones just like digital credit cards, so why even need cards to scan at the e-gates for entry and exit just use a SmartPhone carrying the digital signature.
For Air tickets, baggage and right to passage & boarding - Most of the air tickets have now become E-tickets, most of the boarding cards have now become e boarding cards that carry QR codes and can be stored on the phones, no need for the printed papers, just scan the QR code on the phones to check in your self at the check-in kiosks, as well as your baggage at automated baggage self-check-in machines which would soon have digital tags just like digital boarding passes that can be received on the phone and stored on them for quick retrieval and usage.
Use the Boarding Card QR code on the phones to scan phones on the e-gates for the right of passage.
For Foreign Exchange - the amount of foreign exchange being carried by people is reducing as E-wallets are getting more and more popular.
For Travel Insurance - most of the travel insurance policy contracts are nowadays electronic, claims are also made electronically, a smartphone can be used to click the photos of the bills and submit digitally for processing of the claims.
For Purchases and Payments at the destination country e-wallets are being used, these e-wallets are activated on traveler's smartphone, payment for accommodation, taxi, food, POI tickets, tour guides, and shopping are all being made by e-wallets.
For Sharing of experiences - travelers are using less and less of laptops to share information, they feel a handy smartphone for instant gratification and sharing with friends in realtime.
For Photo capture - almost no one except professionals are carrying the cameras around, the phone-based cameras are so powerful today that it can take instant pictures and allow instant action on them.
For Refunds - since all purchases are made online and using e-wallets, refunds are also being processed electronically, which are facilitated with digital form filling on phones.
For Feedbacks - I hardly see anyone collecting the paper feedbacks anymore, everyone is using digital methods to collect them and most users are using their phones to give the feedbacks at whatever convenient disposable time they have.
For Translation - Digital applications now can conveniently provide voice translation, text translation, and OCR, so no traveler faces language issues as long as they have a smartphone and are connected to the internet.
For Maps - Once a most important site at the Airports and at various shops at any tourist spots have almost disappeared, Maps are available on phones and provide excellent navigation in the destination country in the user's host language.
Other ancillary services that are experienced throughout the journey are;
Customer Service, phone-based communication messengers allow the traveler to remain accessible for any help required any time with any service.
Telecom Connectivity, it was important to have a destination country SIM card change on the phone to be able to have cost-effective telephone calls over the phones, now a) most travelers are using VOIP calls to remain connected to their people in the home county and many VNOs are offering APP. to Normal Phone call facilities at local rates over VOIP and even issuing the local virtual numbers to be able to receive normal calls. Virtual SIM technology has also made things more convenient and hassle-free.
So we have brought Mr. Jack Ma's Vision to near-perfect implementation and we can modify his words to say "One smartphone would be all that one would need to travel around the world as long as it is connected to the internet and is charged."
Now as far as the internet goes, almost all international airports and smart cities provide free internet access. If not then the international internet roaming charges of the telecom companies have dropped globally, new VNO's are making this cost even lower, and all this is making it really affordable for travelers to remain connected, looking at the development of Bluetooth Mesh technology it seems that internet would no longer be required for use of most of the services at most of the traveler's touchpoints.
All that you would need is a phone to travel, don't forget it and always keep it charged else you could be in trouble.
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