A myth that will fade away, or a Revolution in the making?
Post Covid19, Travel & Hospitality industry will never be the same again, instead it will become more efficient and robust. Blockchain is significantly revolutionizing the way we use our data and other information across industries. The critical security and transparency in transactions through blockchain are commendable.
Let us begin with exploring areas that may have room for improvement.
Challenges in Travel & Tourism
Over the years Travel and tourism industry has been the most sought-after industry. Below listed are some of the challenges that the Travel industry faces today.
- Lack of transparency in identification
The passenger identification process — including processing of travel documents for Sea travel or Air travel, has been quite time consuming. Unfortunately migrating from manual validation to automatic screening has done little in terms of efficiency.
2. Insecure Payments
Numerous passengers travel across borders, and billions of transactions are made every minute. A high frequency of sales and high volumes at a time might cause untraceable payments. Amidst constant threats from hackers, ensuring integrity of every payment might be challenging at times.
3. In-efficient Transferability
Frequent Flyer Points (FFP) are quite interesting, many airlines & hotels alike offer them to draw customer attention. Travelers can often accumulate them over time and utilize them for their future travels. The prominent issue is that most airlines do not accept reward points from other airlines. There is no standardized points system available.
4. Inefficient baggage tracking
Baggage management system in airlines is quite like that of the supply chain process. Every luggage is considered merely as Goods/Products. There are prominent organizations involved in baggage handling process, making the overall process quite cumbersome which has led to significant lapses and misplacement of luggage especially during disruption in operations.
“Bitcoin is a technological tour de force.” ~Bill Gates
Many compare the transformative effect of blockchain to the disruption caused by the Internet, search engines and Google that changed the way we work, shop and communicate with one another.
Blockchain in Travel and Tourism
Airlines and Hotel management have a similar business blueprint, and so are the problems they face. Blockchain technology offers a simplified ledger that is centralised, more secure, and transparent system, connecting travel suppliers & service providers — with Travelers.
Below are some of the prominent benefits of Blockchain in Travel and Tourism.
- Decentralised Travel Booking
Blockchain in the travel and tourism industry has given birth to decentralised booking system. The blockchain adoption will see more synergies unlock across principal service providers while newer “direct-to-consumer” business models evolve.
On the other hand, Travelers stand to benefit from competitive & personalised product offerings, that are secure and efficient.
2. Business Ratings
At times online reviews and ratings might be deceiving. One cannot differentiate neither guarantee the authenticity of the information. Through blockchain one can segregate and distinguish the credible ones.
3. Baggage Management
Blockchain could help keep track of baggage once you bid goodbye at the check-in counter. Through blockchain, one can keep a record of the hands and companies handling your luggage, track route and ensure accurate information, which is verifiable and accessible to all parties.
4. Reward System
Loyalty programs and cards were created to encourage customers to revisit. Blockchain would facilitate your customer with a comprehensive reward system, viable over multiple fronts. It will also help Travelers to keep a tab of reward points at a single place.
5. A single Digital id
A number of Platforms have been pondering and deliberating about single digital Identification of the traveller. With a comprehensive blockchain system you can envision seamless tourism operations through consistency of customer data.
6. Smart Contracts
Smart contracts backed by Blockchain technology would help in cutting down all the middlemen. Surpassing Banks, Notaries, and other entities would eliminate delays in processing timings and unnecessary costs thereby making it seamless & uniform.
Blockchain is like the new big data or AI — too many people are using it as a buzzword and not focused solving a real problem. We like to call them Blockchain tourists! ~Brad Garlinghouse, CEO Ripple Labs
Final Words
Blockchain is still in the early stages of technological growth. No doubt Blockchain will guide the way we live our daily life or the way we travel. Furthermore, blockchain based ecosystems will give more power to leisure service providers, small travel companies & boutique hotel owners.
The immense potential it beholds will unleash as we experience increased adoption amongst organisations, companies in Travel and Tourism industry, as well as individual Travellers.
