Cryptocurrency Proves The Hospitality Industry Is Ripe For Disruption

Depending on your perspective and where you digest your daily news, cryptocurrencies are either the future of all transactions in a new digital era or just another fad for geeks. Thankfully, it is not the latter. If you take a step back from the mainstream media and its obsession with the price volatility, the perfect partnership of blockchain and crypto is already entering mainstream adoption.

There is currently a wind of change in the air, and you don't have to look far to see the signs. We are only just beginning to see what is possible, and the $500 billion hospitality industry looks set to be transformed by blockchain too. It is already possible to use a variety of travel sites to book your flights or accommodation and pay with Bitcoin, but this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

There is a long line of friction points and inefficiencies that make the hospitality industry ripe for disruption. Blockchain technology is widely believed to be something that can remove intermediaries to reunite customers and property owners while also offering greater transparency in the process.

Currently, we frequent hotel price comparison websites to get the best deal on our next trip. Once we book a room, we hand over all of our personal information, only to repeat the entire process at the check-in desk after a ten-hour flight. However, try to imagine using a combination of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts that would automatically secure the best deal on your hotel based on your unique requirements.

Third-parties such as Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia entered the industry by eliminating inefficiencies and removing pain points for customers. But early-adopting hotel chains will soon be presented with an opportunity to remove the costly middleman from the equation entirely.

Both customers and property owners will have an opportunity to deal with each other directly and autonomously by embracing the benefits offered by technology. This emerging technology will not just change the industry, it will revolutionize how consumers interact with their favorite brands, hotels and restaurants.

Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and big data are not just a series of buzzwords. Together they make it possible to improve efficiencies for travelers and also increase ROI for service providers and hosts. These are tangible results that further enhance the expectations from customers all over the world.

The introduction of pricing personalization increase in technological innovation will quickly showcase new possibilities. The winners will be consumers and the brands that form a new symbiotic relationship, making hospitality cheaper for consumers and more profitable for suppliers. Those who fail to adapt to a new digital age where crypto is the new currency of choice will fall behind much more quickly than most people realize.

Tariq Alwahedi is a global entrepreneur, industrialist and business strategist with a focus on cryptocurrency and creating practical applications in the FinTech arena. He is the CEO and founder of CryptoBnB.