Data stored in blocks and linked together forms the essence of blockchain, a database type prevalent in cryptocurrency markets. It’s emerging as a transformative technological power capable of overturning the travel industry’s status quo and is considered a revolutionary change agent for various sectors.
Fragmentation characterizes the travel and tourism sector, divided into numerous segments like lodging, flights, rentals of cars and equipment, entertainment, and more. The blockchain can remedy some prevalent challenges and refine processes, forging a more equitable ecosystem and removing middlemen.
Blockchain’s effect is tangible, influencing several businesses within the industry. These enterprises are refining essential facets of the travel ecosystem, cementing blockchain’s role in reshaping the industry.
Lost or incorrect hotel bookings add substantial stress to travel, often leaving customers battling through layers of the supply chain while providers consistently add value.
Webjet, an Australian online travel agency established in 1998, utilized blockchain’s unalterable distributed ledger to create a model to eliminate booking issues. The company, a leader in Australia and New Zealand’s online travel tools, claims its blockchain platform launched in 2019 improves customer experiences by recording all entries irreversibly, lessening booking errors and ensuring fewer intermediaries, which aids in lowering costs and increasing transparency.
How Is Blockchain Used in Travel?
Blockchain finds diverse applications in travel, from accepting cryptocurrencies to reduce exchange costs to tokenizing accommodations and empowering owners to resell their bookings.
Blockchain and the Airline Industry
Blockchain is revolutionizing the airline sector by managing supply chains more efficiently, reducing costs, allowing real-time tracking of parts and supplies, and exploring identity management for enhanced convenience and safety.
Challenges of Blockchain in Tourism
Legacy systems often can’t interface with blockchain solutions, necessitating costly infrastructure upgrades. Additionally, educating industry personnel on blockchain’s uses and benefits remains a significant hurdle.
Waiting for hours in airport queues frustrates not only travelers but airlines and staff. Security, customs, and passport control congestions intensify this issue. Tighter controls, justified by security needs, add to frequent travelers’ woes.
Partnering with the World Economic Forum (WEF), Accenture aims to revolutionize global travel by overcoming these challenges and simplifying the security process.
International travelers can enjoy smoother data sharing with customs through a blockchain collecting and storing identification details, easing their way through clearances.
Digital identity management through distributed ledger technology gifts travelers better security control, expediting airport and airline processing while addressing a significant travel irritant.
Life Group Holdings Inc, based in San Francisco, CA, owns Life, a secondary market for travel powered by blockchain. Eduardo Ibanez founded it in 2022, using non-fungible tokens to symbolize hotel bookings.
Hotel openings and event tickets are aggregated by the company, offering them to consumers. Non-refundable tokens, while initially seeming unappealing to travelers seeking refunds, can be resold through a marketplace.
This marketplace creates a secondary market for travelers seeking events and accommodations. Tokenizing bookings like airline tickets and hotel stays offers liquidity opportunities, enabling investors to benefit by holding them until demand surges.
Bypassing traditional banking systems, Travala uses blockchain and cryptocurrency to connect travelers to service providers economically. Collaborating with Reap, a payment solutions expert, the AVA Foundation developed the blockchain and tokens to amplify discounts, loyalty perks, and other advantages for AVA token holders.
Boasting access to 2.2 million properties, 400,000 activities, and over 600 airlines worldwide, Travala offers ample choices for AVA token buyers, who can book with it by funding their account.
Supporting roughly 130 cryptocurrencies, Travala’s NFT-based membership program requires locking up 2,500 AVA tokens for Travel Tiger NFT access, enabling benefits like lounge access, discounts, concierge services, and more.
The essence of travel should be comfortable, affordable, and most importantly, enjoyable. Though current travel is riddled with fees, booking mishaps, bad reviews, and extensive lines, blockchain offers a modernization path, addressing these persistent issues.
Through ecosystems designed to minimize intermediaries, travelers and service providers forge mutually rewarding relationships, enhancing value for both parties.
Essential Aspect
Blockchain technology’s core is decentralization, shifting authority from a centralized figure to a broader network.
