Thematic Intelligence: Blockchain in Travel and Tourism (2024)

Thematic Intelligence: Blockchain in Travel and Tourism (2024)


Summary

This thematic research report takes an in-depth look at the theme of blockchain and the impact it has on the travel and tourism industry. This report analyzes the players impacted by this theme alongside the contributing trends, negative destination trends, unintended opportunities, and trends that have emerged as a result of blockchain. It then dives deep into an industry analysis, presenting several real-life case studies looking at how destinations and companies have responded to the impact of this theme on their operations. Recommendations are then offered for the travel sector, alongside a description of companies mentioned throughout. This report focus is on blockchain.

The globalization and digitization of travel and tourism are both driving the demand for easy-to-use and cheap international transaction processes and payment systems. Blockchain technologies are predicted to substantially transform the tourism industry. With the hype around blockchain subsiding, adoption is quietly increasing, focusing on practical benefits and efficiency gains rather than technological novelty. This shift from complete overhauls to narrower but clearer industry-specific applications, often developed in-house, reflects a maturing landscape. In the tourism industry, although many tourism vendors have been accepting blockchain-and the potential of using blockchain in travel-related consumption has been intensively documented-existing knowledge of travelers’ intention to use blockchain is limited. Traditional models do not account for the idiosyncrasies of blockchain and are therefore less appropriate. Blockchain technology, which by itself consists of a multitude of protocols, platforms, consensus mechanisms, and cryptographic primitives, is far from being fully developed. The blockchain market is in its early stages, with some areas maturing. It features established blockchain companies, new entrants, Big Tech, and financial firms. As the market evolves, new participants will emerge, and the landscape will change significantly over the next two years. Blockchain is a method of storing information that makes it difficult to alter the information or cheat the system. The technology can be viewed as a digital record of transactions-like a ledger-that is decentralized, meaning no central authority, such as government or bank, validates a transaction. Instead, transactions are shared or distributed among all participants on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis within the network.

Scope
  • This thematic report provides an overview of the impact blockchain has on the travel sector and seeks to understand some of the contributory factors. The key trends within this theme are split into three categories: technology trends, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory trends. Several case studies are included to analyze the multiple ways countries and companies have responded to the impact of this theme’s growth and what they are doing to grow with this theme.
Reasons to Buy
  • Understand the current blockchain trends within the travel landscape today and how these will escalate in the near future. Assess how travel and tourism companies such as tour operators, OTAs and DMOs are utilizing blockchain to drive revenues. Acknowledge the necessity of using blockchain by understanding the social, cultural, and environmental effects on the destination. Discover recommendations for businesses involved in blockchain. GlobalData’s thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition, and secure that all-important competitive advantage. All across the travel and tourism supply chain, organizations now have an opportunity to capitalize on blockchain, and there are some notable examples of this. Therefore, all should buy this report to fully understand how this theme will continue to be a key theme in the future travel landscape.


Executive Summary
Players
Technology Briefing
What is blockchain?
The four key characteristics of a blockchain
How a blockchain transaction works
What blockchain is not
Blockchain architecture
Public key encryption
Centralized versus distributed ledger
Consensus mechanisms
Types of blockchains
Which blockchain should you use?
Smart contracts
The role of cryptocurrencies in different types of blockchains
Trends
Technology trends
Macroeconomic trends
Regulatory trends
Industry Analysis
Market size and growth forecasts
The financial services industry leads the way in global blockchain spending
The US leads the way
Blockchain in the travel and tourism industry
Impacts
Smart contracts for automation
Enhanced security and identity management
Improved loyalty programs
Tokenization of assets
Decentralized travel marketplaces
Challenges
Regulatory uncertainty
Scalability
Interoperability
Resistance to change
User experience
Recommendations
Pilot projects and proof of concepts
Collaboration and partnerships
Education and training
Regulatory engagement
User-centric design
Case studies
TravelChain
Webjet
Beenest
Winding Tree
Kayak
Timeline
Signals
M&A trends
Venture financing trends
Patent trends
Company filing trends
Hiring trends
Social media trends
Artificial intelligence
Hotels
Business travel
Value Chain
Infrastructure layer
Semiconductors
Nodes
Storage devices
Networking equipment
Data centers
Software layer
Blockchain protocols
Permissioned blockchains
Hybrid blockchains
Permissionless blockchains
Middleware
Application layer
Centralized applications
Services layer
Blockchain as a service
IT and professional services
Infrastructure as a service
Companies
Leading blockchain adopters in travel and tourism
Specialist blockchain vendors in travel and tourism
Sector Scorecards
Travel intermediaries sector scorecard
Who’s who
Thematic screen
Valuation screen
Risk screen
Glossary
Further Reading
GlobalData reports
Our Thematic Research Methodology
About GlobalData
Contact Us
List of Tables
Table 1: Technology trends
Table 2: Macroeconomic trends
Table 3: Regulatory trends
Table 4: Key M&A transactions associated with the blockchain theme in 2023
Table 5: Key venture financing deals associated with the blockchain theme in 2023
Table 6: Leading players associated with this theme and summarizes their competitive position.
Table 7: Leading blockchain adopters in travel and tourism
Table 8: Specialist blockchain vendors in travel and tourism
Table 9: Glossary
Table 10: GlobalData reports
List of Figures
Figure 1: Who are the leading players in the blockchain theme, and where do they sit in the value chain?
Figure 2: Blockchain is distinguished from traditional databases
Figure 3: A blockchain transaction can be broadly divided into six steps
Figure 4: Blockchain is not bitcoin
Figure 5: Blockchain is a type of distributed database
Figure 6: The data stored in a block depends on the blockchain
Figure 7: Linking transactions together makes it practically impossible to tamper with them
Figure 8: Tampering with one of the blocks will cause the hash of that block to change
Figure 9: Public key encryption is essential for securing blockchain transactions and verifying ownership
Figure 10: Transactions are validated using a mechanism that is entirely independent of central control
Figure 11: Most permissionless blockchains use one of two consensus methods
Figure 12: Distinguishing between access control and network management in blockchain
Figure 13: Private and federated blockchains are the preferred choice for most enterprises
Figure 14: Selecting the type of blockchain is complex – a traditional database is often sufficient
Figure 15: Smart contract transactions can broadly be divided into seven steps
Figure 16: Top blockchain trends
Figure 17: GlobalData estimates that the global blockchain market will be worth $291 billion by 2030
Figure 18: The financial services industry leads blockchain spending
Figure 19: The evolution of blockchain can be divided into several distinct phases
Figure 20: The blockchain story
Figure 21: The number of blockchain-related M&A deals remains strong despite the crypto crash
Figure 22: Blockchain’s share of tech M&A deals is increasing
Figure 23: Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges lead the way in blockchain-related M&A activity
Figure 24: US companies lead blockchain M&A activity
Figure 25: In 2023, blockchain funding fell by 65%, while deal volume decreased by 41%
Figure 26: Blockchain’s growing prominence in tech funding
Figure 27: Large funding rounds are down in 2023 as investors become more cautious
Figure 28: Blockchain-related venture financing is driven by the US
Figure 29: Most of the volume is in early-stage deals, while most of the value is in later-stage deals
Figure 30: Blockchain is attracting a lot of attention from major venture financing firms
Figure 31: The number of patent applications has declined since peaking in 2021
Figure 32: China accounts for most blockchain patent applications, but the US is gaining share
Figure 33: Chinese companies lead blockchain-related patent activity
Figure 34: The number of blockchain companies going public has boosted filing mentions
Figure 35: Blockchain and cryptocurrencies remain intertwined in company filings
Figure 36: Cryptocurrency-related businesses have the most blockchain mentions
Figure 37: The number of active blockchain job postings remains high despite layoffs
Figure 38: Blockchain hiring is concentrated on specific sectors and occupations
Figure 39: Crypto exchanges, professional services, and financial firms lead blockchain hiring
Figure 40: The number of blockchain job postings in the travel and tourism sector has been historically low
Figure 41: This trendline chart shows the daily number of contributors and the number of discussions surrounding the theme of blockchain
Figure 42: The blockchain value chain
Figure 43: The blockchain value chain - Infrastructure layer
Figure 44: Infrastructure layer – Semiconductors
Figure 45: nfrastructure layer – Nodes
Figure 46: Infrastructure layer – Storage devices
Figure 47: Infrastructure layer – Networking equipment
Figure 48: Hosting grows more decentralized, yet centralized providers like AWS retain a significant share
Figure 49: Infrastructure layer – Data centers
Figure 50: The blockchain value chain - Software layer
Figure 51: Permissionless versus permissioned blockchain protocols
Figure 52: Software layer – Permissioned blockchains
Figure 53: The three most popular third-party blockchain protocols for permissioned blockchains
Figure 54: Third-party protocols have a prominent role within the federated blockchain landscape
Figure 55: Hybrid blockchains are less common than permissioned and permissionless ones
Figure 56: Software layer – Hybrid blockchains
Figure 57: The competitive landscape for public permissionless blockchains is diverse
Figure 58: Software layer – Permissionless blockchains
Figure 59: Software layer – Middleware
Figure 60: Cross-chain interoperability enables interaction between different blockchain networks
Figure 61: Layer 1 solutions involve modifications to the underlying blockchain protocol
Figure 62: Layer 2 solutions operate on top of the existing layer 1 blockchain
Figure 63: Blockchain's inherent transparency and immutability present unique challenges in privacy and security
Figure 64: The blockchain value chain - Application layer
Figure 65: Application layer – Centralized applications
Figure 66: Major financial institutions view asset tokenization as a significant market opportunity
Figure 67: The blockchain value chain - Services layer
Figure 68: Services layer – Blockchain as a service
Figure 69: Services layer – IT and professional services
Figure 70: Services layer – Blockchain development and infrastructure services
Figure 71: A wide range of companies are making advances in blockchain
Figure 72: Who does what in the travel intermediaries space?
Figure 73: Thematic screen
Figure 74: Valuation screen
Figure 75: Risk screen
Figure 76: Our five-step approach for generating a sector scorecard

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