Learn About the Origins of the Blockchain-powered Cryptocurrency That’s Taking the Hospitality Industry by Storm
Having a deep passion for all things technological, I became interested in the application of blockchain technology a couple of years ago.
In 2018, I came across an interview at the Singapore Consensus with Rana Mukherji, who is the founder of Hotelier Coin; a company that has developed a blockchain based cryptocurrency for the hospitality trade.
I knew that I had discovered a rare find, a company that could disrupt an entire industry that was still in its early stages of development. The more I learned of Hotelier Coin, the more I became convinced that this new cryptocurrency would soon become a household name. In February 2019, I interviewed Rana Mukherji.
Who is Rana Mukherji?
Rana Mukherji is a hotelier at heart. For nearly two decades, he managed, operated and ran luxury hotels across the Middle East, India, North America, and Africa.
Thoughts for a Revolution — The Birth of Hotelier Coin
While in Canada, Rana had aspirations for opening the ‘Boutique’ hotel brand. After successfully spearheading a joint venture for Bespoke hotels, he packed a bag and set off for the Mediterranean. His aim was simple, to help his investor buy up small hotels with great potential. After interviewing over 30 different hotel owners to figure out the best way he could enter the marketplace, Rana began to discover a fundamental problem that existed within the industry. All owners, all customers, and investors had to go through third-party intermediaries and suffer the expensive commissions they had in place. Rana felt that in this modern age there must be a better way.
After stumbling upon blockchain technology, he realized that he had found the answer. YouTube and other online resources gained a very keen student. He scoured the internet for all information that he could find on the blockchain, feeling certain that he could find a way to apply it to his industry. After forming a solid business plan, he knew that he would need the help of a technological company who could assist him in realizing his dream. A digital, borderless currency that could provide secure, completely transparent trade directly between the hotel and the customer. The days of the middlemen were numbered.
Laying the Foundations — Creating the Platform
Realizing the magnitude of his idea and the enormity of the task, Rana could not rest. He assembled a team of experts from both the hospitality trade and the technological industry to help him achieve his revolutionary goal. He understood that for his plan to succeed, all elements should be working together as a single, cohesive unit.
The hospitality industry has lots of moving parts. From the traveler, the credit card, the booking platform, check-in & check-out, paying of vendors and staff salaries — all of these factors employ their own individual processes in order to work. Even when a customer simply orders a coffee, there is a progressive chain of procedures that takes place. Rana perceived the hotel industry as existing within its own ecosystem and believed that his digital cryptocurrency, Hoteliercoins, could connect these dots.
His hotel booking platform, Hotelier Mart, verifies customer identity by collecting KYC (Know Your Customer) information and can serve to eliminate fake bookings and duplicated workload. Hotelier Mart passes on this information along with the customer profile, which provides the hotel with verified data as well as customer preferences. The need to collect the data at the front desk is no longer necessary which saves the hotel a lot of time and money. The customer also benefits by a less lengthy check-in procedure and would now have a much more enjoyable experience by having their personal tastes documented before they arrive. Continually swiping your credit card just to get through the front door will soon be a distant memory.
Bringing Balance — Relief for Smaller Hotels
Rana feels that technology belongs to everybody, not just those with deep pockets. During his earlier travels throughout the Mediterranean, he realized that there were smaller hotels that did not possess the same level of technology that the bigger brands did. This has the effect of causing 60–70% of their business to struggle, particularly hotels that have only 10–50 bedrooms. By partnering with a PMS (Project Management System) company, Hotelier Coin could provide all the luxury brands and technology to these smaller establishments for as low as $10 per bedroom, per month.
Customer Rewards — Cashback Wherever You Travel
Loyalty and reward programs for customers are commonplace across many industries today. People can accumulate frequent flyer miles, get discounts across supermarkets and earn fine dining experiences at restaurants. Many of the larger hotel chains have their own reward schemes based on how often you stay with them. But what happens when you have been accruing loyalty points with a particular brand of hotels, and then travel to a location where they have no presence? The money that you spend on this particular journey goes unrewarded.
By using one of the thousands of hotels connected to the Hotelier Mart network, a customer earns reward points and cashback regardless of which hotel they stay at. What is more, unlike frequent flyer miles and other reward schemes, a Hotelier Coin customer can monetize the tokens that they have collected at any time they choose. This gives an unprecedented level of financial control back to the traveler.
Hotel Rewards — Trading Rooms
This is what truly sets Hotelier Coin apart from any other company operating within the industry. By creating a decentralized exchange to trade in Hoteliercoin tokens, hotels can trade rooms as a commodity for the first time ever!
Using the Ethereum blockchain as an enabler, Hotelier Coin will remove the need for intermediaries who siphon potential profits from the hotel just to bring the customer’s business to the door. Right now, for every $100 a hotel makes, a number of third parties such as banks, travel agencies, foreign exchange and credit cards take a percentage in commissions. Hotelier Coin gives money back to each individual business, allowing them to grow.
Through the decentralized exchange that Hotelier Coin has created, the outdated legacy system of face-to-face negotiation is replaced by an Ask-and-Bid negotiation based on smart contracts. This new structure will create increases in profits and allow a hotel to focus more fully on the traveler.
A Bright Economic Future — An Entire Industry Trading Under a Single Currency
Having launched Hotelier Coin, Rana Mukherji is already busy discovering innovative ways to make the most of this new ecosystem of travel that he has created. The Hoteliercoin token is designed to perpetually gain in value, and he envisions a future where all manner of businesses within the industry such as car rental, flight booking and leisure experiences will operate under this one, borderless currency.
A truly original concept that is currently being launched by Hotelier Mart, is the ‘Hire a Private Chef’ and ‘City Hosts’ schemes. These allow a customer the opportunity to hire an individual who lives in the local area to provide home-cooking as a personal chef or hire a guide to safely show them the sights of the city.
The schemes will not only serve to vastly improve the experience of the traveler but also provide a boost to the local economies of many locations around the world.
After recently forming a strategic alliance with SearchStays, a global vacation rental network of over 50,000 high-end locations, I feel quite assured that soon everybody who travels, either domestic or abroad, will be familiar with the Hoteliercoin Token.
This is an interview by Christopher Roper and was originally posted in Data Driven Investor.
