Blockchain technologies are now being used as the foundation for many platforms, including the travel industry. Most hotel and travel platforms now combine on the same platform to get customers’ attention. This is where the blockchain development services comes in and plays a very important role.
Here, we’ll talk in more detail about what blockchain does for the Hotel & Travel business platform.
Blockchain in Hotel & Travel Management
As of right now, everyone has a basic understanding of the blockchain industry. However, here are a few key points to remind you of what you already know. Blockchain is decentralised, which means that there is no third party, and, as the name suggests, all of the blocks are linked to each other. This makes it easy to update data. Using blockchain technology in the travel platform makes sure that both the owners and the users are safe and that everything is clear.
So, when this kind of blockchain platform is used in hotel platforms, it gets rid of the middleman and connects tourists and suppliers directly. This means that the connection will be made in a more modern way than was done in the past. This made the benefits and trademark clear. Because of how the blockchain is set up, every piece of information is saved. This makes it safe for both parties to avoid any scams.
How does Blockchain Technology help Hotel and Travel Owners?
The idea of a decentralised blockchain is good for any platform, and it also works for the Travel & Hotel Industry. It involves using a smart contract and the results to get the following:
- Smart Contract
- No outsiders
- A lot of security
- International Business
- Share quickly (data & amount)
- Bring together buyers and sellers in one place
- Functions that work well
The use of the blockchain application in hotel and travel platforms has a lot of other benefits as well.
How can Blockchain Technology benefit the Hotel And Travel Industry?
Some of the best things about blockchain technology are:
Transparency:
Because Blockchain is a peer-to-peer network, it is very open, and anyone can find out what transactions have been made.
Records Can’t Be Changed:
If you need to change something, you have to do it along the whole chain, which is almost impossible.
Highly Secure:
There is no way to hack or change information, so the network can be proud of its high security and ability to stop fraud.
With all of these benefits, blockchain technology can help the hospitality industry in the following ways:
Access to a Decentralized Inventory
Hotels now use OTAs to make sure that as many people as possible see and book their rooms. Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) hold the most inaccessible inventory data. The OTA network brags about its exclusive hotel inventory, which makes it impossible for new players to enter the market. In a way, this means that it has a monopoly on the hotel business. Small properties don’t have room on the exclusive inventory list, so travelers from all over the world don’t know about them and don’t book them.
Reduction of Middlemen Costs
Whether it’s MakeMyTrip, ClearTrip, Expedia, or another online travel agency, when a hotel room is booked, all of them charge commission fees to the hotel. Even though the commission rates are high, hotels work with these online hotel booking sites because OTAs have the largest share of the market and offer rooms that aren’t available anywhere else. The booking engines on these OTAs are very easy to use, which is why people prefer to book hotel rooms and travel through these sites instead of the hotel’s website. Also, there are a few flaws in the way that OTAs and metasearch engines, which charge both the seller and the buyer commission fees, use the system to make money.
But, as we already said, blockchain adds new hotels to its list, so even the smallest hotels can be listed. This gets rid of the need for OTAs or meta-search engines and cuts out the commission fees that both the hoteliers and the people who book hotel rooms have to pay to the middlemen.
Safe Transactions
When payments are made with blockchain technology, there is no need for middlemen like banks or the fees they charge for transactions. Also, every transaction is clear and encrypted, making it very hard for fraud to happen. Blockchain technology can also help the travel industry with identifying passengers and keeping track of their bags.
Loyalty Programs
When you book a hotel room, you get reward points through the hotel’s loyalty programme. But there was a catch: you could only use the reward points to book rooms at their hotel. Let’s say you paid Rs.5,000 for a hotel room and earned Rs.500 in loyalty points. You can’t book a room for that low of a price, so these reward points are wasted. Also, surveys show that most of the reward points from loyalty programmes are wasted because the rules for using them aren’t clear.
But with blockchain, the hotel can connect with a chain of restaurants, a spa, and other similar chains to make a network. When there is a clear network of these brands on the blockchain, the user can use loyalty points to buy services from any partner brand. Using the same example as before, you can now easily use Rs.500 worth of loyalty points to buy a pizza or other food at the partner restaurant chain. So, the loyalty programmes start to help the users, who will keep coming back to you.
You can also give customers loyalty points if they write honest reviews about their stays at your hotel. Customer reviews are a good way to move up in Google’s search results and get more reservations. You can also give points for referrals, which will increase your bookings and help spread the word about your brand.
Smart Contracts
Another popular use of blockchain technology is in smart contracts. On the blockchain, two people who are part of a certain transaction sign a smart contract. The benefit of a smart contract is that it makes it possible for a transaction to happen automatically between a buyer and a seller as soon as the service is done. This again saves time and makes transactions easier and safer.
Blockchain technology helps both the public and hoteliers in ways like increasing the number of rooms available, cutting out the costs of middlemen, filling up the rooms of even the smallest hotels, preventing fraud, identifying passengers, creating loyalty programmes that give rewards to customers who stay at a hotel often, write reviews, bring in new customers, etc.
Wrapping Up
Blockchain is one of the newest technologies that has made a big difference in most fields. In the past, there have been several attempts to make a digital currency, but they all failed because a single party or person was in charge. But because it uses a peer-to-peer network called Blockchain, Bitcoin has become one of the most popular digital currencies. No one person or group owns the network or the transactions that happen on it. This makes blockchain a reliable and safe network. Blockchain technology could help the hotel industry by making it easier to book more rooms, making transactions safe, getting rid of middlemen, and stopping fraud.
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