The travel industry can’t just rely on allure, rewards, influencers, and promotions to survive; it needs to become more efficient and bring down costs. Here, as with many other industries at the moment, blockchain technology can help.

Consumer profile company Aqua Intelligence has launched its Property Management System. Aqua’s Property Management System is using blockchain technology to reduce operating costs and customer response times, which in turn allows requests to be resolved more efficiently.

In essence, the system connects data across the entire chain, which makes every part of hotel management more accessible and more effective. It is similar to the case study Bill Gates highlighted in his book Business at the Speed of Thought, in which the Promus hotel chain used integrated data services to provide a high level of service at a low cost.

“Even though technology is very much integrated in all businesses in this age of information, customer service remains the essence of the hospitality industry,” Aqua Intelligence CTO Harsha Cuttari told me. “With the use of better quality data and by leveraging AI, hotels can elevate their guest experiences by knowing everything about them before they even walk through their door, providing a custom tailored experience for each.”

Through the inherent transparent distributed ledger that the blockchain provides, the data is irrefutable.

“Blockchain paves the way for hotel chains to make better use of data by maintaining clean and trusted records of the customer and seeing how they transform over the years,” Cuttari said.

So how does it work?

Aqua’s Property Management System is a SaaS platform that combines enterprise operations into one user interface. By aggregating all data on one automated platform, Aqua aims to reduce cycle times in time-sensitive departments throughout the hotel chain and other hospitality industries.

“The two main problems the industry faces today are data silos and outdated technology,” Cuttari said. “With cross-platform data aggregation, comprehensive profiles can be created of each consumer’s attributes and preferences without disclosing underlying private information. This means you’re no longer stuck with a sub-optimal service while new programs you join recreate data that already exists in one of your other profiles.”

As blockchain technologies and the tokens they create become more mainstream, many are using those new payment mechanisms to shift to an attention economy, one where consumers are in control of their data and can monetize it accordingly. Aqua has developed exactly this type of solution, leaving management and control of personal data in the hands of the consumer, not the platform.

Aqua Intelligence leverages artificial intelligence, along with machine learning, to create comprehensive consumer profiles that highlight personal traits and provide scores for each user. Companies can use these profiles to make intelligent business decisions and provide a better user experience.

So what’s next for Aqua? The company plans to expand its platform beyond the hospitality industry.

“Our team at Aqua noticed the flaws and opportunities of data in the hospitality industry,” Aqua Intelligence CEO Anthony Gelman told me. “We recognize the application of our solution to a broader variety of industries and are building enterprise solutions for businesses in all verticals to solve the problem of data silos and provide data clarity.”