Preamble

The hotel booking (OTA/GDS) and software industry (CM/PMS) is fragmented with no fewer than five different groups working for commission between travelers and hotels.

Problems include:

High commission payments;

Onerous legal agreements;

Fragmented computer systems; and

Data and Payment bottlenecks.

This results in:

Complex system integrations;

Dreadful user experiences (guests and operators),

Reconciliation and auditing nightmares (costs, fees, commissions); and

Lack of transparency for multi-property owners.

Below is a visual representation (Figure 1) of the various paths through which data flows:

Figure 1: Traditional Hotel Booking Ecosystem

Proposed Ecosystem

Use of blockchain technology can improve the flow of data, integrating identity and payment. This will dramatically reduce reconciliation and auditing tasks, lower commission costs, allow for improved API integrations, and reduce inventory over-booking.

Since BookLocal will act as a property management system, channel manager, and payment processor for the hotel and provide metasearch capabilities for the traveler, much of the current ecosystem can be bypassed. As such, figure 2 represents our vision after full implementation.

Figure 2: Proposed Hotel Booking & Management Ecosystem

Proof of Concept Implementation

Below video shows a proof of concept of the core hotel functions:

Book Room

Check Status/Assign Room

Check-In

Check-Out/Settlement

From a technical standpoint, this version uses ERC721 to define non-fungible tokens and our proposed ERC809 to interface with renting functions.

Want to try it?

Sign up to participate at the EthMemphis Hackathon to explore blockchain solutions in the following industries:

Supply Chain

Travel, Hospitality, & Tourism

Healthcare

Education

Legal

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