TRAVEL companies are
looking to blockchain
as a new solution
to manage bookings and
payments.
OTA Webjet is using
a pilot version of the
Ethereum blockchain to
track the inventory of hotel
rooms around the world,
gather data on consumers
and travel trends, and
streamline the process of
paying the half-dozen or so
intermediaries, between a
consumer and their hotel,
for the roles they play in
facilitating a booking.
Lufthansa Group has
entered into a content
partnership with Winding
Tree, a blockchain-based
decentralised opensource
travel distribution
platform, while TUI Group,
a multinational travel
and tourism company
headquartered in Germany,
has reportedly also
transferred its entire hotel
inventory into a private
version of Ethereum.
But members of the local
travel industry aren’t sold
on the idea. Andrew Stark,
md of Flight Centre Travel
Group Africa, says blockchain
and cryptocurrencies like
Bitcoin are interesting
developments, but it remains
to be seen whether they
are feasible for the travel
industry and even legal.
“I’ve got a feeling that, with
cryptocurrency, governments
are going to start clamping
down.”
Riaan van Schoor, ceo of
Agentivity, says while the
software shows promise,
implementation may be more
challenging than advocates
suggest. Riaan says while
there are opportunities
to improve settlements
and transaction logging in
relation to hotel bookings,
the project is a considerable
one that will have to get
co-operation from multiple
participants in the process.
“I’m not sure that will be so
easily achieved.
“There are other more
pressing issues to solve in
relation to hotel bookings
and some of those could
easily be achieved with
simpler solutions, such as
virtual payment cards and
mining the data you generate
in order to get a handle on
what you’ve booked and
what actions need to be
taken.” He adds that these
are processes used at
Agentivity.
