Applications of blockchain and smart contract for sustainable tourism ecosystems

Abstract

Blockchain is one of the most promising technologies for innovating business ecosystems in tourism. Blockchain enables secure, reliable, and efficient decentralized management systems without trusted third parties which are a core part of centralized management systems. Many tourism business activities have been doing under globalized and decentralized environments. Thus, It is necessary to do research regarding applications of blockchain technology to the tourism industry for building sustainable tourism business ecosystems. The purpose of the present paper is to examine application cases of blockchain and smart contract to the tourism industry and to identify the opportunity to innovate existing tourism business ecosystems. Stakeholders of tourism business ecosystems are able to innovate their ecosystems being conducive to their business using blockchain technology. Application cases of blockchain to tourism such as TripEcosys and TravelChain can be helpful to tourism business managers who seek new opportunities for innovative businesses.