How verifiable credentials and digital wallets will transform travel

For those working to develop verifiable credentials, digital identity wallets and the rules and systems to support these products, there is little doubt that travel – as well as many other parts of everyday life - is on the verge of a fundamental, radical shift.

It’s a shift that will put more control in the hands of travelers while enabling suppliers and intermediaries to better know who they are dealing with and therefore provide more relevant offers – all while removing existing friction points in the travel journey. 

Work around self-sovereign identity (SSI), verifiable credentials and digital wallets has been happening for some time, but the pace has been accelerating in recent years, in part driven by government entities such as the European Commission, the United State Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and individual countries such as India, Belgium, Estonia, Sweden and many others.

In Europe, the Digital Identity Regulation went into effect in May, requiring every member state to offer at least one version of the EU Digital Identity Wallet by 2026. In the U.S., the DHS recently awarded funding to six startups to develop digital credentials.

Efforts such as these are raising awareness of and interest in the use of digital identity for travel, but they are just one part of the equation – the “issuance” piece. What is also needed is “acceptance” – by travel suppliers and intermediaries.

During a Center Stage session at Phocuswright Europe in Barcelona last month, three people who are leading work related to digital identity discussed the “how, when and why” of the travel industry adopting and implementing this technology - and what the traveler experience could potentially look like in 2035.

“This is a paradigm shift in how we deal online. It’s providing us with the missing identity layer in the digital world,” said Annet Steenbergen, advisor to the EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium.

“And the traveler is in charge. Usually you have to give a lot of data and then you get something back. This time you’re in charge of the data you share. … The trust factor has a huge potential because that is a very different way of connecting with a business.”

As wallets such as those coming to European residents become reality, travelers will be able to store documents such as their passport, as well as payment credentials, their travel preferences and more on their mobile device.

Now is the time, said Francois Blanc, managing director of Amadeus’ Traveler ID solution, for travel suppliers and intermediaries to determine how they will work with these digital credentials – whether they will create their own wallets or integrate with others – and what types of offers and enhanced experiences they can provide through this direct connection with travelers.

“Digital identity is the most underrated piece of technology,” he said.

“And a lot of people say digital identity is the cookies of the future - a very respectful cookie because you [the traveler] decide to share it with travel players to get a benefit. And if they [travelers] do that, you have a very respectful way to track travelers along their way because they accept to do that for a tangible benefit.”

Neoke, a PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startup for 2023, is one of the companies building the infrastructure for digital identity and connected travel. Founder and CEO Vikas Bhola said that when users control when and how to share their data with suppliers and intermediaries, personalization and automation will be unlike anything that exists today.

And consumers will embrace these solutions once they see those benefits, said Bhola, so the challenge now is to deploy this at scale to unlock interoperability across the traveler experience.

“The end to end railing here is integration with PMSs [property management systems], with GDSs [global distribution systems], PSS [passenger service system] … and this is the work that we’re doing,” he said. 

To learn more about digital identity and what it will mean for the travel industry, as well as how it relates to AI agents, watch the full discussion below.

Prior to the panel, Gee Mann, founder and CEO of Travlr ID – a PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startup for 2024 – gave a “5 Minutes of Fame” presentation about the work his company is doing to create a decentralized network for digital identities focused on corporate travel. Watch his presentation below.

And also at Phocuswright Europe, we talked to Mann and Indicio founder Heather Dahl in the PhocusWire studio. Indicio is working with SITA and the government of Aruba to enable travelers to the island to pre-authorize their arrival border crossing before they even leave their departure airport.

“This is no longer a technical challenge, this is a change management challenge in the industry,” Dahl said.

“Ultimately, will the traveler know they are using SSI? Probably not, and that’s OK. We want them to think, ‘Wow I never expected to blow right through that checkpoint,’ or ‘I never expected that I wouldn’t have to wait in a line’ or ‘I never expected I’d be off the plane and sitting on the beach in 30 minutes.’ That’s the traveler and customer experience that I think ultimately they’ll have.”

Watch or listen to that discussion below.