Travolution Summit 2023: ‘Blockchain will…

Blockchain will simplify the travel industry’s complex web of fragmented technologies in much the same way that Tesla has simplified the motor vehicle, Travolution Summit was told.

Anke Hsu, head of business development at Chain4Travel, said that one connection to a single network can provide merchants with all the product and content they need while verifying each transaction.

Chain4Travel is building the Camino blockchain network specifically for the travel industry and aims to launch the mainnet within weeks following the successful introduction of a testnet last year.

Hsu said blockchain has the potential to do away with the many product APIs and aggregators that travel companies need to integrate with, which add to the cost of distributing and retailing travel products.

And she said it will support new business models such as C2C where consumers can trade products stored on the network as immutable digital assets, opening up new revenue opportunities for suppliers.

“Today we talk about B2B, and we know B2C, but now we can talk about C2C and secondary markets.

“Customers who are unable to travel can sell their travel to another customer or even back to the original company. With smart contracts, you can define the terms of how it can be sold.

“This is possible now with the enablement of blockchain and digital assets that are protected.

“Web 3.0 is about reading, writing and owning, and blockchain is the enabling technology because for the first time you can actually protect digital assets with a smart contract.

“In the travel industry, we have a lot of data. Each trip is a digital resource until departure. For us, it is very important that we can protect these digital assets.

“Why does it matter? We can act. And we can actually decide whether we want to share some of our identity.

“What was missing in Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is the ownership of our contributions. The big platforms [like Twitter, Google and Facebook] they make money off our data.”

Hus added: “In tourism, everything is in a loop, we have a lot of APIs, a lot of data going to different pools, to different distribution systems, a lot of ways to connect, a lot of aggregators.

“Most aggregators don’t have all the content you want. It’s impossible to sell, for example, small add-ons because it’s too complicated to connect.

“With blockchain, it can be very different. You have, in the network, the ability to connect to your offerings.

“Imagine a lake where you throw your offers in and everyone can fish for the offers they want as a tour operator with only one connection to the network. Sell ​​to May or buy to many.”

Chain4Travel has won support from 120 travel companies including major players such as Lufthansa, Tui and Der Touristik.

But Hsu said the concept is to give sector players of all sizes an equal say in how the network develops and the transactions it validates.

“We have designed the blockchain so that the smaller and medium-sized companies have the same voice, the same voice on decisions as the large companies. Unique for the entire industry, she said.

Hsu added: “It’s not another app, it’s an attempt to actually move away from the old systems we have and establish a common shared infrastructure that every travel company can take part in.”

With blockchain and smart contracts, travel will be able to respond immediately to disruptions with any delay triggering the terms of a smart contract and initiating a rebooking.

It will also mean that compensation for delays can be paid directly and immediately to the customer and improves service and satisfaction levels.