How blockchain technology is transforming the travel and tourism industry

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Secure and reliable transactions are essential when it comes to the tourism sector. It is particularly relevant, given the many international transactions that take place daily between various organizations in the sector.

The use of blockchain technology can increase transaction reliability and security. In addition, the absence of intermediaries in the process can result in much faster payments using blockchain technology.

Furthermore, the decentralized nature of blockchain can be beneficial for international travel. Without unified data storage, it is still possible to build an infrastructure.

A system of this type is unlikely to fail due to hardware problems or malicious attacks. Due to blockchain’s decentralized nature, it is easier and more reliable to obtain and store important data.

Because of the assurance of secure transactions and interoperability, various companies are now getting custom travel applications built and integrated with blockchain technology. In fact, global spending on blockchain solutions is expected to reach a value of $19 billion by 2024.

By hiring the best custom blockchain development company, they now either create a custom software solution or upgrade their existing solution with blockchain technology.

This blog discusses the promising opportunities that blockchain technology offers in the travel and tourism industry.

How blockchain technology is revolutionizing the travel industry

Here are six ways blockchain technology is transforming the travel and tourism sectors.

Helps with identification

The travel industry relies on identification services, and blockchain may eventually replace other methods of keeping this data as an industry standard.

When used in this way, technology has the potential to significantly shorten check-in queues or waiting times at airports, as the presentation of identification papers can be replaced by a quick fingerprint or retina scan.

Locating luggage

Blockchain technology has great potential as a tool to monitor the whereabouts of luggage – especially when it comes to international travel.

Over the length of a journey, the customer’s luggage often changes hands several times. Sharing monitoring data between businesses is much easier when done using a decentralized database.

Streamlined payments

Settlements between hotels, travel agencies, third-party sellers and various aggregators are streamlined and accelerated using blockchain.

The centralized ledger makes interactions faster and more secure than ever, helping businesses prevent fraud and data theft. This is an excellent application of blockchain in the tourism sector.

Blockchain as a system helps companies control their business travel costs by accurately recording, analyzing and estimating expenses. In addition, this combination enables the business to streamline operational procedures and offer customers a more seamless payment experience.

Supplier and supply chain management

Through improved visibility of the entire supply chain, blockchain may be able to help hotels and hotel chains improve their interactions with suppliers.

Exporters, importers, packers and other involved parties can be connected with a privately set blockchain network into a common chain that will be fully traceable and open to all.

Improved tracking and traceability

A decentralized database makes it easier, faster and more private to share tracking data between companies, alliances and locations.

At various stages of the tracking process, this helps raise awareness, ensure on-time delivery and even prevent adverse events. This use of blockchain technology in the tourism sector has created new opportunities for many businesses.

Decentralized orders

There is a demand for more channels and collaboration that can improve operational and financial benefits for the business and the consumer. A small number of OTAs (online travel agencies) currently dominate the travel industry.

Introducing decentralized platforms for orders. For businesses worldwide, this application of blockchain technology in the travel sector is groundbreaking.

By eliminating middlemen, these platforms streamline communication and offer significant power to both customers and hotels, making the process more affordable for all parties.

Other applications of blockchain in the travel and tourism industry

Some of the other technologies that have used blockchain as a foundation could be beneficial to the travel and tourism sector.

Here are a few cases.

Smart contracts

By eliminating intermediaries (such as notaries public, banks or other entities), smart contracts, which use blockchain technology to manage contracts, enable lower costs and faster processing times.

Digital ID

There is much discussion around digital identification-based initiatives such as the Alastria project, which is led by the top companies listed on Spain’s IBEX 35 stock exchange.

With the help of this system, tourism companies can streamline their work processes and gain access to all relevant data about a person in one place.

Cryptocurrency

Virtual coins that can be exchanged like any other type of money constitute cryptocurrencies. The difference is that neither authorities nor financial institutions have any influence over them. If a trade occurs, it will be fully transparently recorded in the blockchain network.

It’s time to put blockchain technology to use for your travel and tourism businesses

Embracing blockchain technology is easier than it might seem at first. But for those unfamiliar with digital technology, encryption, cryptocurrencies or peer-to-peer networks, learning about it can still seem intimidating or overwhelming.

However, given its enormous potential and ability to completely change the travel business, understanding and implementing it in business is critical.

Sudeep Srivastava is the CEO of blockchain software development company Appinventiv and is someone who has established himself as the perfect blend of optimism and calculated risks. Having built a brand known for harnessing the unexplored ideas of the mobile industry, he spends his time exploring ways to take Appinventiv to a point where technology mixes with life.

Featured image: Shutterstock/ktsdesign/Andy Chipus/Vladimir Sazonov