Experts believe that one of the most promising blockchain use cases in the tourism industry is hotel service tokenization.
Everyone who’s ever been abroad has had to exchange their currency for the local one at exorbitant rates, especially when using bank cards. Not to mention the risk of getting fleeced on every corner. To solve this problem, hotels can issue their own internal tokens that will serve as a currency for their services.
Crypto enthusiasts believe that hotel service tokenization will benefit both hotels (it’s always easier to spend the tokens you’ve already bought, which increases hotel revenues) and tourists — they know the exchange rate in advance and can buy hotel’s tokens risk-free, and sell the leftover tokens on a digital exchange. Tokens also open up new opportunities for providing special offers and sales during the low season.
With settlements moved to crypto, transaction costs will be down to almost zero. The travel market players are constantly making cross-border payments in different currencies. Payment processors and banks usually make 2–3% margin on these transfers, which ultimately ends up either on the hotel’s cost sheet or the end user’s bill. This is significant because the travel market operates on rather low margins already — from 3% to 15%.
It’s difficult to forecast whether or not popular hotel chains will implement a system like this, but this topic is no less relevant than the pandemic.
