[Advisory Board] Alexander Karolik Shlaen
The TravelChain project inspires a lot of people mainly through its goals and perspectives. Change the face of the tourism industry and make travel possible in one click - this is, indeed, an ambitious plan that fires imagination.
Today we continue to acquaint you with the project's advisors, people whose experience, professionalism and passion about our idea will help us build a future in which people travel easily and with comfort, and monopolies do not dictate to others their standards and price tags.
They are of different age, from different countries and work in different spheres, but they all share a commitment to innovation, high professionalism and faith in our project.
In this section, we are going to introduce the project's advisory board to you, here you can find the answers to the most relevant and interesting questions about the blockchain technology, the tourism industry and TravelChain.
Alexander Karolik Shlaen
Investments in Luxe, Property and Tech, SinoCloud Group Ltd
Luxury business (products, brands and investment) specialist. Specializing in Business Alliances between Western based and Asia-Pacific enterprises. Specializing in and connected with investors, deal-makers and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) throughout the region.
TravelChain: Can you tell us a few words about what you do: why and how is it connected with blockchain technologies and the cryptocurrency economy?
Alexander: I’d say my main focus is finding interesting and niche investments, the hidden gems. I am on board of directors of a publicly traded company on Singapore Stock Exchange. The company owns and operates data centers. I am also doing investments and advise the HNWI as well I own a company that is representing some of the super brands such as Aston Martin and Tonino Lamborghini designs. We co-brand properties, super-yachts and private jets as well as provide interiors for homes, offices, villas etc.
I believe some of the blockchain technologies will be applicable in the near future in various businesses and I am trying to be a bridge of sorts between the current ‘real economy’ and the new blockchain technology start-ups.
TravelChain: What prospects do you think blockchain technologies have to offer to society?
Alexander: What I call the "equalising factor" is one of a major few prospects I see as very positive. i.e people from all socio-economic levels can play an equal part in it.
Also some of blockchain processes make it a fair game for all.
TravelChain: Can the cryptocurrency economy become a worthy alternative to the existing system and why?
Alexander: It is possible that the cryptocurrency economy will become a part of the existing system, not an alternative.
In order to become an alternative we will have to implement some regulations. For example, I do not want to have a part in any transaction that has blood on its hands or terror money, as an example. But without some regulation process we will not really know where the money comes from and from whom. And hence some regulations are good to have, but many in cryptocurrency economy are scared of regulations of any sort so I believe it will take some time. Maybe some self regulating procedures will work as well, provided one will know who is on the other side of the deal.
TravelChain: How could you assess the current state of the tourism market? What problems do service suppliers and consumers have?
Alexander: One of the major interesting factors in this market is that now everybody became critics. Everybody is writing their experiences and criticism of hotels, airlines, resorts and F&B. Everybody are the experts now.
The problem is that each of us is coming from a very different experience background and for one person who never traveled the experience in a given resort or restaurant could be significantly different from another person who had lots of experience. Or a person with disability who will require a different set-up and facilities. And hence many of the ratings on the social travel sites are distorted. And some are very distorted. That affects the suppliers as well as customers eventually.
TravelChain: How could blockchain technologies change the travel industry development?
Alexander: Blockchain could probably further eliminate middlemen. I say further as the internet helped a lot to do so already. But a blockchain could be much more targetted. More precise.
TravelChain: What do you think about TravelChain project and why did you agree to cooperate with us?
Alexander: Initially I didn’t find the TC as interesting, but the more i heard the details and more I thought about it the more I liked it and now I love it.
To put it in short, I love the idea of each person, say for example me having my own TC passport, where all my preferences are stated. It means the providers can target me much better and I want it to be so, because I want offers and suggestions of hotels, resorts, travel experiences and F&B to be suitable to my level of expectation and preferences.
This could be a revolutionary service as one will waste less time in search and research and eventually one can save money as well.
The suppliers can target me and offer me special, tailored deals as for them instead of advertising to hundreds of thousands of clients (who are actually not their target clients) to get just say 10, they can come directly to their potential target clients and offer them better and even tailor-made deals. This is great for suppliers and for consumers, a perfect win-win situation. And that is one of the reasons I got involved with TC.
My other major reason is I met some of their management team and they are smart, charming, decent and event idealistic. I was impressed and that is exactly how I describe them to my other contacts investors.
TravelChain: What is a perfect travel in your opinion?
Alexander: I don’t believe there is such thing.
It is always as per mood and situation. I sometimes love to indulge in my fabulous villa in Phuket, watch the sun setting into the sea with a drink and cigar.
But sometimes I also can enjoy a simple hut on some secluded beach and have a coconut from the palm tree next to it. Maybe next I would love to travel to space and then my expectations of that trip will be very different.
TravelChain: Colleagues admit your spacious mind and cheerful disposition, also they admire your standout success in business. Do your spacious mind and cheerful disposition help you in business a lot?
Alexander: Sometimes it helps….with people who are smart and have a sense of humour. And that is why we clicked so well with the TC team, they are themselves a bunch of lovely people.
In general now I can afford being myself and decide with whom I do my business and I count it as one of my major blessings.
I would not suggest anybody to be too humorous if they do their business in a corporate world and in Japan for example.
I lived in Japan for over a decade, working for one of the top 6 conglomerates there and I learned when to "turn off” my humour and to lower my usually optimistic mindset. I saw many foreigners totally misunderstood the situation and were misunderstood, which resulted in deals and business go sour.
In our global business we need to know when and how to apply our senses.
TravelChain: You were born in Russia, but you studied and live abroad. And to which nation do you belong today?
Alexander: I was born in what was the western USSR. Our family’s land in Bessarabia was annexed in 1945. My grandmother was a personal fashion designer to Mdm Brezhnev, the wife of the de facto Soviet ruler. My grandmother was treated with respect and paid well. We had a privileged life, within the Soviet standards. But my family was different from the classical Soviet format. My grandfather, who was educated in Sorbonne, France and in Belgium and was a worldly person speaking fluently 5 languages. His brother Maxim Karolik, who moved to USA in early 20th century was the world’s biggest collector of American art and till now it is probably the biggest such collection on earth, which he presented to the American people. It can be found in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and some other major US museums.
Despite of comfortable life in the Soviet Union, my family always feared the repressive regime. My family immigrated when I was a kid.
I studied in Hong Kong and USA. Now I am a UK citizen and a Permanent Resident of Singapore. But I still love the Russian language and I hired a Russian teacher to teach my kids this rich and beautiful language. My grandmother collected some over 1,000 books in Russian, a rare collection in private hands in Soviet times and I read lots of these, which provided me a great platform to my Russian language. She also instilled in me a deep love for Russian language and classical Russian culture. I am trying to do the same and pass this feel for the Russian culture to my children.
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