Blockskye, Arise and Dtravel on blockchain in action for travel

Various players across the travel industry have been exploring – and debating – blockchain-based solutions for year.

Several years ago, as PhocusWire began digging into this topic, opinions were mostly polarized - with some touting it as a revolution in the making and others writing it off as a passing fad.

Fast forward to 2022 and there is more consensus that blockchain can provide a smarter, faster and more secure mechanism for transactions of any kind, which in travel can include booking, payment, settlement and identity.

Blockskye, Arise and Dtravel are three of the companies operating blockchain-based travel systems today.

In a session at The Phocuswright Conference, Blocksksye co-founder and co-CEO Brook Armstrong says the company – focused on corporate travel - currently handles about 2,200 transactions with $1 to $2 million in value daily. Blockskye’s partners include Kayak and United Airlines and it is enabling direct bookings for a large corporate client. 

According to Arise co-founder and CEO Nadim el Manawy, Arise operates a similar distributed-ledger based network for transactions between hotels and travel sellers such as online travel agencies and travel management companies. And Cynthia Huang is head of demand growth at Dtravel, which uses blockchain to power direct booking websites and a direct booking engine for vacation rentals.

In the discussion with Phocuswright senior technology and corporate market analyst Norm Rose, panelists explain how blockchain enables a new model that shifts the ownership and management of data to individual users and that creates a transparent, scalable source of truth between transacting parties – boosting security, efficiency and revenue.

Watch the full panel discussion below.