Business & Management Studies

Application Potential of Blockchain Technologies in the Travel and Tourism Industry

This paper attempts to do a rigorous systematic literature review of research articles that discuss the concept of blockchain among the leading travel and tourism journals.

Authors

Diptiman Banerji, Associate Professor, Jindal Global Business School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.

Bharat Arora, Jindal Global Business School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.

Aditya Ranjan Pratihari, Jindal Global Business School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.

Waleed Rashideh, College of Computer and Information SciencesImam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Summary

Blockchain technology creates a decentralized chain and gives access to digital assets in a way that their history remains unalterable and transparent by employing cryptographic hashing. Blockchain is a state-of-the-art technology that promises to reduce risk, minimize chances of fraud, and bring transparency in a scalable way for multiple uses across different sectors and industries, including travel and tourism. 

This paper attempts to do a rigorous systematic literature review of research articles that discuss the concept of blockchain among the leading travel and tourism journals. 

This review identifies 11 thematic applications of blockchain as discussed in these journal papers including, for example, smart contracts, digital currency, disintermediation, identity management, service customization, bringing authenticity in customer reviews, and building innovative loyalty programs. 

Finally, going beyond these thematic applications, this review also discusses present blockchain usage in the travel and tourism sector. 

Published in: Choudhury, Tanupriya; Khanna, Abhirup; Toe, Teoh Teik; Khurana, Madhu; Gia Nhu, Nguyen eds. “Blockchain Applications in IoT Ecosystem” pp 289-299, Springer International Publishing.

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