International Tourism firms Touriocity and Traipse have today announced plans to introduce cryptocurrency incentives to users of their service. Both firms offer services for tours of cities across the world. They aren’t traditional tours per say, both firms aim to integrate technology, mainly smartphones and tablets into their tours to offer customers a much more rewarding experience. Not only that, the firms offer other experiences for customers, for example cooking classes and access to other cultural phenomena. With Touriocity based in London and Traipse based in Virginia, a collaboration between the two firms does sound like a logistical nightmare, the distance between their offices is hardly walkable and the time difference does present some challenges, that’s where OST comes in. OST is a platform for blockchain integration that offers developers a chance to create new blockchain interactions. OST is the medium of choice by both Touriocity and Traipse to provide a rewards system for tourists who visit local businesses that both firms have recommended to them. The plan is for each city covered by the firms to be given its own currency that works through the OST platform. The currency will be given to tourists when they complete tasks such as ‘visit this local baker’. The coins will be transferable between cities in a bid to encourage Touriocity and Traipses customers to visit more cities. Darren Smith, the founder of Traipse has commented on this new partnership, saying: “Users can earn points in-app by completing tours, sharing accomplishments on social media, and other actions. They can exchange those rewards for downtown tokens which they can then use for purchases at local businesses, transfer to friends and family as gift credit, or redeem for US dollars.” At the end of the day, this is a clever marketing tactic to offer incentives to customers to encourage them to share information about the tourism firms. It’s integration with local businesses and other towns/cities is a nice way to give something back to the community. Adding a cryptocurrency style reward system also holds the advantages of getting people into cryptocurrency that might otherwise not have bothered. Internationally, the tourism industry is worth billions of dollars. Projects like this one offer new incentives to companies within the tourism industry to open up new ideas. Essentially, this could be a game changer, not just for the companies involved but also for the local businesses and the customers that are using Touriocity and Traipses system. With billions already in circulation, this could really boost the tourism industry and ensure that local communities and businesses also benefit from the convergence of the cryptocurrency and the tourism industries respectively. Featured Image Source: Alpha Stock Images