You would have to be a great dreamer and an optimist, at the dawn of Bulgarian entrepreneurship, to start a business without a ‘briefcase full of money’ or relatives [in the right places]. You would have to be slightly mad. Odysseia-In is exactly that – a crazy project for its time, which owes its conception to the efforts of half a dozen climbers and mountaineers: Lyubo, Slavi, Stefka, Roumen and Valentin – members of the Edelweiss Alpine Club, Sofia. Together, we had traversed the Bulgarian mountains, the Tatras and Pamir. Somehow, it seemed natural to try and make a living out of it. We weren’t short of ideas, but reality struck even before the end of the first year. Yes, we had some foreign guests already, who for some reason had placed their trust in us, but in 1991 the company was in unannounced bankruptcy.
In 1993, we added to our business the import of hiking and climbing equipment. We grew slowly, made mistakes, our services were substandard. We learned at the expense of our first clients, we learned while travelling, and the course I took in France in business development and marketing, supported by a programme of the French government, gave us our first corporate contacts. The rest was a matter of integrity, faith and perseverance, common sense, talent and creativity, determination.
Our mission is to demonstrate respect and create understanding of the nature and cultural identity of the communities and places we visit.
Our vision is to offer high quality, active and immersive adventure and cultural trips at a great value. We do our best to minimize our negative impact and support a number of conservation organizations and local initiatives. We have been “Travelife Certified” since 2017.
