Travelport taps blockchain to speed up commissions
Travelport is working on a blockchain powered system to streamline travel agency commissions for hotel bookings.
It is using IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric to guarantee commissions payable to travel partners and aims to close the ‘gaps’ created by a fragmented series of different payments systems.
Travelport is working on the proof-of-concept with travel management company BCD Travel and three hotel chains.
It aims to ‘put the lifecycle of a booking on the blockchain’ which in turn will help minimize payment discrepancies.
"Traveler modifications at property, no shows, and complimentary room nights are just a few examples that drive commission discrepancies which in turn generate escalations, cost, and revenue loss," said Ross Vinograd, Travelport’s senior product director.
"If a traveler extends a hotel stay, that information might not make its way back to us as booking data," said Marwan Batrouni, vice president of global hotel strategy, BCD Travel.
Bookings in the blockchain will be able to continually track and manage commissions owed to agents on behalf of hotels.
It also enables faster and more accurate payments compared to current manual methods.
More than one-third of travel agents find commission payments problematic, according to Travelport surveys.
"With blockchain, we’re able to reduce costs and ease burdens for all parties involved by improving transparency, accuracy and efficiencies," Vinograd added.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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