Blockchain is a type of database that is commonly used in the cryptocurrency market wherein data is stored in blocks and then chained together. It is emerging as a powerful technological force that promises to change the travel industry's status quo. In fact, it's already being heralded as a game-changer for many other industries.
Travel and tourism is a very fragmented industry because𝐆 the sector is broken up into different parts. Think flights, lodging, car and equipment rentals, entertainment, and more. So, how can blockchain help? The following serv🎃ice providers have resolved some common challenges and streamlined processes while building a more equitable ecosystem that shuns gatekeepers.
The technology's impact is more than hypothetical, though, with several businesses disrupting nodes within the industry's supply chain. These companies are improving k꧋ey aspects of the travel eꩵcosystem and establishing blockchain's place in the industry.
Key Takeaways
- Travala aims to connect travelers with service providers while minimizing fees and costs for both using blockchain technology.
- Webjet is an online travel agency that tracks and alerts travelers, hotels, and agents about booking inaccuracies.
- Accenture seeks to reduce long travel wait times and increase security by providing digital identity management services.
- Life is a booking service provider that uses blockchain to tokenize travel services. One of its most innovative services is the reservation secondary market, where you can sell your reservation non-fungible tokens to other travelers.
1. Travala: Reducing Costs for All Parties
Travala is a travel booking service that uses blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies to bypass traditional banking. It uses services provided by Reap, a payment solutions provider. The AVA Foundation developed the token aꦓnd blockchain Travala uses t♏o increase the value of discounts, loyalty rewards, and other benefits offered to AVA token owners.
Travala claims to have access to 2.2 million properties, 400,000 activities, and more than 600 airlines globally, providing more than enough options for travelers comfortable with purchasing AVA, loading their account, and using it to book travel arrangements.
Travala accepts about 130 cryptocurrencies and has a non-fungible token (NFT) membership program. To gain access to the Travel Tiger NFT, you lock up (stake) 2,500 AVA and are granted access to airport lounges, discounts, concierge services, and other bonuses.
2. Webjet: Adding Assurances and Avoiding Ina🃏ccuracies
Inaccurate or lost hotel bookings add considerable stress and anxiety to a travel experience. When this happens, customers usually have to take on fees across several layers of the supply chain while providers consiste﷽ntly extract valu🔯e.
Thanks to blockchain's immutable distributed ledger technology, Webjet has built a new model designed to avoid these irritating booking experiences. The company is a prominent online travel agency based in Australia and was founded in 1998. Webjet claims to be Australia and New Zealand's leading online agency and a leader in online tools and technology.
Webjet officially launched its blockchain platform in 2019. The system enhances the customer experience by recording all entries on the blockchain's immutable ledger, which reduces the likelihood of mistaken or lost bookings and reduces the layers between sellers and consumers. It does this by locating real-time data prob🐭lems that may occur between customers, agents, and hotels and sending messages t📖o every party.
The technology's improved security features provide better protection for the ecosystem. Apart from building greater supply chain 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:efficiencies and reducing hotel costs, travelers ultimately benefit fro🔴m lower-cost bookings along with more transparency and greater accountability.
Important
Decentraliz🐽ation is a key componen𒁏t of blockchain technology. It transfers control from a centralized entity to a larger network.
3. Accenture: Striving Towards Shorter Lines
Spending hours waiting in lines at airports is one of the major annoyances of traveling the globe, not just for travelers but also for airlines and airport staff. Congestion can add to the time spent in lines for security, customs, and passport control. Security needs are also trumpeted as the reason for tighter controls and oversight, all contributing to frequent travelers' headaches.
To overcome these challenges and expedite the security process, Accenture (ACN) developed the Known Traveler Digital Identity System. The consulting firm partnered with the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:World Economic Forum (WEF) to help disrupt the global travel industry.
This blockchain is designed to collect and host identifying information from frequent international travelers, enabling a freer flow of data between travelers and customs agents to ease the clearance process.
This allows travelers to gain control over their digital identities with better security thanks to distributed ledger technology. Airports and airlines benefit from accelerated processing and better security, helping shorten lines all while alleviating one of the biggest traveler pain points.
4. Life: Creating Liquidity in Travel Bookings
Life is a blockchain-enabled secondary market for traveling. It started with hotel bookings, creating non-fungible tokens that represent a room reservation. Life is owned by Life Group Holdings Inc, based in San Francisco, CA🌟. It was founded by Eduardo Ibanez in 2022 and provides blockchain-based travel reservation services.
The company aggregates hotel openings and event tickets and makes them available to consumers. Non-refundable, non-fungible tokens are created for reservations. While this might not sound intriguꩲing to travelers who want to be able to get a refund if their plans change, they are able to post the tokens in a marketplace for other travelers to purchase.
This creates a secondary market for travelers looking for events and lodging—but even more interesting is the other opportuꦆnities it creates. Hotel bookings, airline reservations, event tickets, and more can be tokenized and resold via a marketplace; travel market liquidity is likely to be the result of this endeavor as investors realize they can purchase tඣravel-related bookings and hold them for price appreciation when demand for the bookings rise. For instance, someone who purchases reservations at a hotel that is popular with concert-goers can reserve the rooms for concert days and sell them at a premium when demand is up.
How Is Blockchain Used in Travel?
Companies in the travel industry are finding many ways to use blockchain, 🍃from accepting cryptocurrency to reduce foreign exchange costs to tokenizing lodging and allowing the holder to resell their reservations.
How Is Blockchain Used in the Airline Industry?
Airlines and ওaircraft manufacturers are identifying ways to use blockchain to manage their supply chains more effectively, allowing them to reduce costs and track parts and supplies in real-time. The industry is also exploring ways to make travel more convenient and safe by storing and managing 🏅identities via blockchain technology.
What Are the Challenges of Blockchain in Tourism?
In many places, the legacy systems used are not capable of communicating with blockchain solutions, which requires expensive upgrades to infrastructur🅠e that may not be affordable. Another challenge is educating people working in the industry about blockchain, how it is used and interfaced with, and what it can offer them.
The Bottom Line
Traveling should be comfortable, cost-effective, and, most importantly, enjoyable. While fees, booking irregularities, bad reviews, and long lines may be symptomatic of the current travel environment, blockchain is providing a way for companie🃏s to address th🦩ese ever-present issues and modernize travel experiences.
Thanks to the formation of mor꧟e equitable ecosystems constructed to reduce the presence of intermediaries, travelers and service providers can build more mutually fulfilling relationships t🔜hat contribute to improved value for both.