Top Ten Application Scenarios And Five Major Challenges Of Blockchain In The Tourism Industry

The top ten application scenarios and five major challenges of blockchain in the tourism industry 2018-06-30 In 2011, blockchain and artificial intelligence became the most popular technical terms. The combination of blockchain tourism has become a hot topic in the industry. So, what scenarios can blockchain technology be applied to in the tourism industry? 1. Consumption points management Leou Online Culture and Tourism Platform is the world's first blockchain tourism platform covering six major tourism areas including food, accommodation, transportation, tourism, shopping, and entertainment. It has transformed the original points system of enterprises to a certain extent and transformed it into a platform independently issued by enterprises with blockchain as the underlying technology. The new points enable the free trading and redemption of points, maximize the use of point services and functions, help service providers acquire customers, and help travel consumers obtain greater benefits. 2. Air tickets and hotel bookings: Russia’s Siberian Airlines (S7) and Alfa Bank have partnered to sell air tickets on the blockchain. One of the main advantages of using this technology is speeding up the payment process. As a decentralized travel service booking platform, based on smart contracts and using TRIO Token for accommodation bookings, service providers do not need to pay any commission, which greatly reduces operating costs; users will get better services at lower prices. 3. Hotel and airline loyalty programs are universal loyalty reward platforms based on blockchain and smart contract technology. At the 2016 Industry Theme Conference held at the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, it was proposed to use blockchain technology to make tourists better. Earn consumer loyalty points locally and boost tourism.

In addition, Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced in 2018 that it would launch a blockchain-based customer loyalty program for passengers. 4. Track pilot professional certifications and qualifications. French company Airbus, a participant in the blockchain alliance, is also exploring the possibility of blockchain applications. The test project is using blockchain to track pilots’ professional certificates and qualifications. 5. Credit consumption management On the platform, reputation is extremely important. Only when a user's credit reaches a certain level can they rent a specific type of house. The purpose of using blockchain technology is to better establish a reputation platform for merchants and travelers and effectively store identity information. 6.Digital identity authentication. The founder of Chain in New Zealand led the team to build the BTA system, which uses the underlying technology of blockchain and Internet applications to create personal electronic digital identity authentication. When users register on the Backpack Chain APP, in addition to the regular registration process, they also need to scan the user's passport and upload facial recognition information to generate globally unique mobile personal identity information. Each ID information owner will have a key that only the information owner knows. 7. Verify housing information. It provides more than 2 million housing information in 191 countries and has received 60 million customers. P2P hotel websites have achieved certain success in optimizing the one-stop process of hotel rental. It is also exploring housing information verification, establishing an SMS communication system to facilitate communication between customers and landlords, and improving the payment experience.

8. Electronic identity management In Estonia, blockchain technology has been used to develop electronic identity projects. It is reported that the country allows non-Estonian residents to apply to become e-citizens, similar to a permanent residence permit or identity card, which enables these residents to enjoy a range of services provided by the country. Currently, Estonia uses the program to encourage talent from around the world to start businesses in the country. Such schemes would provide a significant boost to tourism in certain destinations. 9. Travel community review Yuelu Chain is a travel community review platform based on blockchain technology. All transactions, comments, ratings, and rating data cannot be tampered with, cannot be destroyed, and are traceable. Roles within the ecosystem have clear identity authentication. Therefore, all characters must be held accountable for their actions. Consumers' evaluations of service providers will receive basic evaluation rewards from smart contracts, which are issued by the platform based on smart contracts. 10. Inventory management: Australian OTAs are trying to use blockchain for hotel inventory management, collecting large amounts of data through each booking record and ensuring timely and full payment to all parties. Blockchain-based B2B travel inventory trading platform Tree has partnered with Lufthansa to help it apply blockchain technology to digital products. Tree connects suppliers (hotels, airlines, etc.) and sellers (travel agencies) to the same marketplace. Suppliers enter listings, ticket information, and prices into a database, and sellers can easily access this information or purchase inventory immediately and pay on the spot. All transactions will be completed automatically without manual intervention.

The growth and expansion of every new thing generally has to go through twists and turns, from imperfection to perfection, because new things are fragile. Completely overturning the old model that the tourism industry has followed for many years will inevitably go through a tortuous process. What challenges will it face when applying blockchain to the tourism industry? 1. Blockchain technical issues If blockchain is to be applied to the tourism industry and produce positive effects, its technical problems must first be solved. For blockchain, its application is still in its early stages. If the records in the blockchain are incorrect or there are loopholes in the original protocol, subsequent problems will be difficult to solve. When all data blocks are connected through nodes, once a problem occurs, there is no so-called "superior". Moreover, existing tourism blockchain platforms and infrastructure technologies are based on Ethereum applications. Due to the insufficient technical performance of Ethereum, blockchain tourism is currently unable to support high-frequency and large-scale user visits. There are problems such as low efficiency, limited transaction volume, slow transaction speed, and long confirmation time. Therefore, the timeliness of the application field is affected. 2. Tourism supervision policies are not yet in place. Financing and hype valuation are problems that have emerged in the blockchain market, affecting the application of blockchain technology in the tourism industry. The tourism market urgently needs scientific government supervision, accelerate blockchain compliance, and promote the healthy development of the blockchain industry. However, relevant government tourism laws and policies have not yet been introduced. 3. Consumer demand and acceptance. Blockchain technology is currently in its early stages of development and requires further practical proof in terms of scale and practicality. The sequelae brought about by the currency speculation trend include exaggerating the role of blockchain. Following the country's policy attitude, many users have a wait-and-see attitude.

Whether users demand and accept blockchain technology is ultimately related to the future of blockchain tourism, but it has not yet been accepted by most people. 4. Unrealistic centralization concept Based on the blockchain decentralization theory, the blockchain tourism platform was born. However, blockchain is not completely decentralized. In the future, with the development of blockchain, it is inevitable to avoid the supervision of centralized institutions. Centralized supervision can make the industry more standardized and develop in a better direction. Semi-decentralization is a better and more favorable choice for blockchain tourism, that is, centralized management coupled with the decentralized nature of blockchain. 5. The test of time, whether it is the application and points concept of the six major areas of Leou Online Cultural Tourism, or the borderless tourism consumption sharing concept of BTA (Backpacker Blockchain Travel Alliance), these are still in their infancy. Blockchain applications only really started to become popular in 2018, so current blockchain tourism is immature. Whether it is implemented or not still needs to be implemented through specific practice and can stand the test of time. It is predicted that by 2022, the existing market space of global tourism will be close to 10 trillion US dollars. In the future, as blockchain technology matures and its application in the blockchain tourism industry becomes more and more widespread, it will empower the transformation and upgrading of the cultural tourism industry in China and even the world.

标签： #Block #Travel #Application #Points #Contract