Travel & Hospitality Awards | Travel Innovation, Design & Technology 2021 | www.thawards.com

The commercial upside is huge. By now most of us have
heard of bitcoin and its benefits as a potential global
currency. Financial transactions are a key part of the
travel industry and through blockchain technology travel
companies can benefit from secure payments, quicker
transactions times, and cheaper transaction fees. This is
especially important as overseas payment are a core part
of the travel industry.
Current Uses of Blockchain Technology in Travel
Winding Tree
With its native LIF token, Winding Trees' goal is to ultimately
replace the middlemen like Expedia by connecting
travellers directly with service providers such as airlines,
hotels and tour companies, thus eliminating hefty fees.
The company's use of smart contracts delivers better
savings and its position as a non-profit means there are
no unnecessary fees added during the booking process.
TUI Group
The TUI Group is one of the worlds leading travel companies
and is now one of the first to integrate blockchain
technology into its infrastructure. Currently the groups
accommodation inventory has been transferred to a block
chain in order to manage it more efficiently and to utilise
a yield management system that swaps beds to wherever
there is higher demand.
Accenture
To combat the high cost and time of airport security,
customs and passport control queues Accenture have
teamed with the World Economic Forum to develop the
Known Traveller Digital Identity System.
The goal of this blockchain project is to gather and store
identifying data of frequent international travellers and
allowing a freer flow of this data between travellers and
customs agents therefore improving the clearance
process. Benefits of this are shorter airport queues, better
security, and traveller control over their digital identities.
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