Telecom Tourist Services Platform: the operator as backbone of the tourist experience

What this solution is

Telecom Tourist Services Platform is a comprehensive offer for the tourist segment in which the operator stops being a “local SIM” and becomes an infrastructure layer for the visitor’s entire stay in the country.

A tourist in UZ goes through a chain: SIM, payment, identification at the hotel, taxi, bank. Each step today carries its own friction. Biometric requirements for banking apps from April 2026 complicate onboarding for foreigners — banking apps demand verification, local wallets demand a local number. The platform addresses this chain as a single product.

When the operator needs this solution

Uzbekistan is developing tourism — entry has been simplified, air connections are expanding, hotels are opening. Tourist volume is growing, and the operator is losing a meaningful segment.

Main tourist flows are structurally different (Russian, Chinese, Korean, English) — multilingual support and localised onboarding are required.

eSIM is available at competitors or will be within the next year — without pre-arrival activation the operator loses the first minute after landing.

The partner landscape (hotels, taxis, booking platforms, banks) is fragmented — there is no unified identity wrapper for the visitor.

If 2-3 of these signs are present — the platform has commercial sense.

How it works

The platform consists of four connected layers.

Pre-arrival eSIM activation. The tourist can buy and pre-activate an eSIM from any country. KYC is performed via video verification or a partner’s digital ID. Activation on the network happens at landing (geofence trigger). This removes the airport queue.

Local number as verification anchor. The tourist receives a local number not for calls, but for verification in local services (taxi, wallets, marketplaces). A foreign number in many forms is either not accepted or triggers additional anti-fraud rules.

Identity bridge for partners. If the operator has already verified the customer (passport, photo, active SIM), it passes the partner (hotel, taxi, bank) a signed token saying “this person is verified”. The partner accepts the token instead of repeating the check.

Embedded multilingual support. Contextual help in the tourist’s language at the moment of the problem. Not a generic chatbot — real scenarios: “your payment was blocked by an anti-fraud rule”, “the taxi does not accept the card, here is how to set up the wallet in 3 minutes”.

What working with SamaraliSoft includes

Tourist journey audit (3-4 weeks). Map of friction points, partnerships landscape, regulatory constraints on KYC for foreigners, competitive position.

Platform design (6-8 weeks). UX for pre-arrival eSIM, identity bridge architecture, partner integration framework, multilingual support model.

Partner layer (in parallel, 6-12 months). Agreements with booking platforms, taxi services, partner banks, hotels. This is often critical-path.

Regulatory work. KYC for foreigners via video verification requires a clear legal framework. If the regulator has not made up its mind — pre-pilot period.

Pilot launch (90-120 days). One main flow (for example, Russian or Chinese), 1-2 partner services. Measurement of adoption, satisfaction, partner conversion.

Expansion (12-18 months). Additional languages, additional partners, regional eSIM with roaming across Central Asia.

What the operator gets

On an 18-month horizon:

Tourist segment in the active base grows (a meaningful share, dependent on the country’s flow size).

Revenue per tourist subscriber is usually higher than for locals — driven by roaming packages and embedded services.

Identity bridge generates additional revenue through partner verification fees.

Brand positioning shifts — the operator becomes “infrastructure for visitors”, which matters more for long-term positioning than quick acquisition.

Tourist intelligence (anonymised aggregate) becomes a separate product line for travel partners and municipalities.

When the solution is not needed

If the operator’s main marketing budget is oriented at retention of the local base, and the tourist segment is a small share — local initiatives may pull priority away.

If the billing system does not gracefully support short prepaid periods without auto-renewal or has problems with no activity beyond 30 days.

If the operator has no working partnerships with key tourism platforms — the tourist hub becomes a window without doors.

If the contact centre lacks multilingual capability in 24/7 mode, night-time tourist incidents become a failure point.

If regulatory requirements around KYC for foreigners are not clarified, pre-arrival eSIM cannot launch without legal certainty.

How to start

Request a Tourist Connectivity Strategy — 3-4 weeks. Sizing of the tourist opportunity, partner mapping, regulatory analysis, pilot product design and a realistic 18-month roadmap.

Related

• /en/insights/telecom-tourist-connectivity/ — tourist connectivity as cornerstone
• /en/insights/telecom-youth-segments-payments/ — biometrics and UX
• /en/solutions/telecom-trust-platform-cornerstone/ — the operator as trust layer
• /en/insights/telecom-arpu-bundles-devices/ — ARPU growth