TECHNOLOGY
BLOCKCHAIN ?
KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON
THE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY COULD HELP IMPROVE THE HOTEL INDUSTRY — BUT BEWARE THE HYPE .
Contributed by JULIANA SHALLCROSS
The hotel industry long has been chided for being behind the times when it comes to adopting new technology . That largely dates from the late 1990s , when brands were slow to get into the online booking game . Then in the mid-2000s , hotels lagged in upgrading in-room technology , especially WiFi .
So from now until probably the end of days , any time a new technology — hardware or software — comes on the market , there will always be a question of whether the hotel industry will miss the boat or be left playing catch-up to other industries .
Never mind that today most big hotel players are hyper-conscious of their tech offerings , piloting novelty items from robot room service to artificial intelligence concierges to Face ID check-in , which Marriott International announced last summer .
Yet with the topic of blockchain , a type of digital ledger that can securely record transactions between two parties with encrypted information , lines are already being drawn between those who think hotels should hop on the trend and those that are skeptical of its actual impact . But first , a quick explanation of blockchain , a newfangled digital way to record transactions : Not only is each digital block of a record encrypted , each block also contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block , along with a timestamp and information about the transaction . If information is changed on one particular block , it will change the information on subsequent blocks .
Blockchains can be public , private or a consortium , which is overseen by a few companies that allow only approved users access . Bitcoin , the popular cryptocurrency , uses a public blockchain as its transaction ledger . Indeed , much of the financial industry is using blockchain , especially as new cryptocurrencies keep popping up .
It doesn ’ t take a tech whiz to see that blockchain is complicated to learn , understand and implement . And complicated translates into expensive . There are people to hire and train to understand the blockchain codes and there are maintenance costs . And we all know how hotel owners feel about investing in what is essentially invisible technology .
Still , blockchain has some great potential for improving the hotel industry . According to Max Starkov , founder and director at HEBS Digital , a Next Guest Technologies Company , there are three worthwhile uses for blockchain in hotels .
PROCUREMENT “ A mega-brand like Marriott deals with tens of thousands of vendors in hundreds of geographies ,” Starkov explains . “ Utilizing a public or a private version of blockchain technology , like the IBM Blockchain Platform , a major hotel brand can introduce unprecedented traceability and transparency in its supply chain and streamline its procurement logistics from contracting , supply management , to vendor transactions , etc .” Walmart is experimenting with using a blockchain for its food supplies , with the ability to track produce in its stores .
September 2018 hotelsmag . com 47