The modern travel industry had a market cap, at its peak, of almost $1.9 trillion. All of that is built on data — traveler identification, itinerary logging, baggage tracking, payments, and loyalty schemes comprise the backbone of this behemoth market. HyperBC, in a bid to focus on key industries that would benefit from blockchain integration, have outlined key cases for adoption of their technology into the travel & tourism sector.
KYC is crucial within the blockchain space. Authentication of identity is essential when dealing with both digital assets as well as tourism data. There are limits imposed by regulation to how far this can be taken, but an interesting aspirational use case is tokenisation of government issued identification — creating a failsafe for lost passports & drivers licences. In this way, blockchain technology has the capacity to drastically reduce check in times at airports, as it removes the need to carry and present physical documentation.
Many parties come between a traveler and their destination, and all of them require careful management of data to ensure smooth experiences for consumers. Adoption of the blockchain creates an immutable record of data for which responsibility is shared by all stakeholders. This avoids situations in which a breach or failure results in catastrophic mismanagement and disruption to travellers’ plans. This can be applied to passenger itineraries, baggage tracking, and bookings for hotels and experiences, and has the potential to mitigate a lot of the stress that comes with mishandled data.
Of course, the original and still most common use case for blockchain is facilitating cheap and efficient international transactions. The relative ease of exchange of digital currencies makes them a viable alternative to fiat currencies in the context of cross-border payments. Using a common denominator to book a flight or hotel abroad removes the expense of foreign exchange and simplifies booking processes. What’s more, the ease of tokenizing assets creates the possibility of blockchain-backed loyalty programs, using digital currencies as “points” that have intrinsic value and can be easily distributed and tracked, with limited risk of failure due to the relative difficulty of cyber crime or corruption.
HyperBC recognizes the potential of blockchain technology to disrupt the travel and tourism sector, and has announced a renewed focus on this industry. They’ll be celebrating this at Singapore Blockchain Week, from the 25th to 29th of July, 2022.
To book a VIP consultation to discuss blockchain integration into tourism enterprises (whether in a tea session at booth D2, or online), contact HyperBC at the email in their author profile.
To learn more about their services and target industries, visit:
HyperBC.com
