Bitcoin and blockchain: travelers' technology

Tourism at the international level has become one of the activities that generates greater economic income in different nations around the world. In 2015 alone, 1,186 million people traveled to various tourist destinations, leading among them France, the United States, Spain and China. In this sense, Latin America has also become a popular spot for tourist activities, with famous meeting places such as Machu Pichu and Rio de Janeiro.

Faced with an increasingly globalized ecosystem, with new and more demanding interaction needs, it is no secret that the travel industry is evaluating the possibility of a modernization of its financial and tourism systems at a global level. All this with the aim of enhancing the comfort, security and access to all kinds of products and prices in the market, as well as to help the development of the local economy of the destination countries.

This modernization could be radical and completely transform the sector, since Distributed Accounting Technology (DLT) is emerging as the perfect tool for the proper functioning of tourism services and its surrounding industries. And beyond the DLT products, in the case of Bitcoin, it must be said that its properties could turn it into a specialized currency for tourists.

Due to its peer-to-peer characteristics, its decentralization and distribution of information, its low costs and instantaneous transactions and its services without frontiers, of a global nature, Bitcoin and blockchain technologies in general are easily adapted to the challenges currently facing tourism among nations; reality that could generate a more connected and innovative ecosystem.

In this way, cryptographic coins propose to transform the way in which travelers exchange values, eliminating the need for intermediaries, such as banking agencies and exchange houses, and thus erasing the monetary boundaries imposed by the different fiduciary currencies of each country, to embrace a more global vision of the planet.

AN OFFER OF TRANSFORMATION TO DETAIL
One of the main characteristics that makes the Bitcoin and the cryptoactive currencies for travel is the annulment of intermediary entities that are governed as the only institutional voice that sells financial goods. In this way, the distribution of the blockchain's operations around the world allows Bitcoin to be the closest thing to a world currency, a value that is not issued by a national central bank and that is authenticated by the confidence that the broken community has on that currency.

What does it mean and what scope could it have in the future? For example, if local businesses in a tourist area and travelers from any part of the world begin to use Bitcoin as a payment method, there would be no need to convert financial fiats from one nation to another in physical exchange offices. A reality that at present is highly dangerous if the destination is a territory with a high index of insecurity, such as Mexico or Venezuela.

The savings in the format of criptomonedas can represent, in the future, trips without needing to visit exchange houses physical in the destination place. An opportunity that increases traveler comfort and reduces the chances of scam. In addition it would represent a first step with the aim of embracing the concept of a unit of universal value, or floating identity.

Following the thread of possibilities open to the distributed nature of the blockchain, the peer-to-peer capacity of cryptographic coins could also benefit tourists and local economies if this digital unit can be implemented in domestic and business markets national, as they are of tourist interest the artisans, the hotels, parks and attractions.

With transactions made directly to traders, tourists can get better prices by buying directly from producers. Also, local economies could flourish in developing countries, such as the islands of the Caribbean and Latin America, or strengthen in European nations, because this adoption can reduce spending on financial services; constituting a true distributed economy.

Blockchain also allows for international transactions that can be verified in a much faster time than other traditional financial methods. An advantageous property that would immensely benefit tourists who wish to make reservations or purchase services from their country of origin, which should only transfer the stipulated amount from one wallet to another in any part of the world, with low or no commission.

However, it is important to note that the market for cryptomonedas is still very young and is in its experimental phase. Few nations have allowed a space for the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem in a natural way, notably Japan and Argentina for their impressive dissemination of crypto-currencies in minority businesses such as cafes and convenience stores, while many more nations have not yet been interested in high-level adoption.

This panorama confirms that applying a tourism economy based on Bitcoin is a risky bet, but not impossible in the future in the situation of understanding that financial authorities have more and more with digital assets.

As practical and possible in the short term, distributed accounting technologies have become a tool that can transform the travel industry. An international study carried out by the Amadeus Group stands out. The document highlights that DLT products can be applied for their ability to register in passenger identification, a solution that is already being evaluated by Dubai.

In addition, it is mentioned that DLT tools can represent a technological application for tracking baggage at airports, as well as a facilitator of payments between travel agencies and airlines with modernized and safer rewards. Components of the tourism industry that make possible an effective and reliable service for the majority of customers.

THE PHENOMENON IS ALREADY OCCURRING
Beyond supply and possibilities, in reality bitcoin and distributed technologies are already working as enablers and platforms for tourism. A number of innovative nations and companies around the world have set their sights on these financial assets with a view to offering something new to the travel industry.

Japan is one of the most advanced countries in this sector, with tourist companies involved with the exchange house bytFlyer for the payment of services through bitcoin. Similarly, the nation has undergone mass adoption that has been backed by the famous capsule hotels, major travel agencies in the country, convenience stores and historic parks.

On the other hand, Malta has also become the vanguard of the tourist industry with cryptographic currencies, since the country has its own travel agency that accepts payments only in BTC, a proposal that even had its first clients.

In the American continent, Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, has also experienced a first step to venture with bitcoin in relation to centers dedicated to tourism and leisure city. The city has a large repertoire of businesses that includes hotels, restaurants and cafes that accept bitcoins. On the other side of the region, Cancun (Mexico) has also opted for crypto-tourism with a community that grows more every day and wants to become a reference for the use of cryptononedas in the travel sector.

Another bitcoin figure in relation to tourism is Felix Weis, a native traveler from Luxembourg who planned to travel 21 countries in 365 days using only Bitcoin as payment method. All this with the sole and irresolute purpose of proving that the cryptographic currencies have a high potential as global currency.

Blockchain tools have also been tested on a tourist level with Hawaii leading government incursions in this sector. The local government would have considered the possibility of adopting DLT to boost and organize the tourist industry and economy in the locality, a bet that could become an important step for the ecosystem in view of the amount of visitors that the island receives annually.

These and other projects outline the enormous potential of distributed technologies vis-à-vis the international traveler market. A sector that is investigating the various applications of blockchain platforms for the improvement of the security, comfort and well-being of its clientele.