Block Chain

IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

- Sibasish Mishra

Blockchain technology is much discussed and hyped today. However, the technology remains at a very early stage in its development. For example, we can notice there are no live systems in production today in the travel or hospitality industry. The industry is in an experimental phase with various stakeholders considering potential use cases for the technology and much progress is being made. Here are some prominent use cases for blockchain or decentralised database:

1. Making loyalty schemes more user-friendly: Imagine a day you can fly from Melbourne to New York in an airline of your choice, where you can use the miles you clocked in at a Starbucks in Manhattan, stay overnight in a hotel overlooking the Hudson flowing from the 54th floor. Bubbling with ideas you fly back to Melbourne with another airline. The next day you have an appointment with your dentist, whose fees are taken care of by the hotel you stayed in and a dent in your car is taken care of by the inbound airlines. Though this might seem extremely visionary, this can be a reality with blockchain in place.

Loyalty schemes have evolved over time, mostly based on proprietary technology and the basic concept of rewarding travellers for their continued and repeated purchase of a travel product. These have become a key marketing tool for hotels, airlines, credit card companies and retailers.