Leading travel commerce platform Travelport has recently made an announcement saying it is expanding its existing partnership with IBM for developing innovations that would disrupt the travel industry. The company said it had completed a proof of concept for streamlining the validation, distribution and settlement of hotel content, using IBM Blockchain, between travel agencies and hotels and its own platform.

According to the announcement, the first of the two programs involves going forward to the next phase of development to streamline the hotel as well as in-trip experience ecosystem using IBM Blockchain. Offer choices through content, seamless booking and fulfilment experience are considered imperative for traveler satisfaction.

Travelport and IBM jointly determined that blockchain could help in providing travel agencies confidence in ease of sale and travel experience by managing content. Long-tail content suppliers would also be able to participate efficiently.

Working with IBM would remove barriers that limit choices in travel, said Travelport’s Chief Architect, Mike Croucher. The operator will hold the ability to upload bookings, work through contacts and administrative functions within the blockchain network, instead of the expensive way of manually managing and owning such tasks, he stated.

Elizabeth Pollock, Industry Client Leader at IBM Travel & Transportation, mentioned that by implementing a smart contract across a distributed ledger, settling payments within the blockchain network and so on, the blockchain technology considerably reduces the processing time. Transparency in the system across all parties is another benefit of the technology, she added.

As part of the second initiative, Travelport and IBM will work towards generating enhanced travel experiences by taking advantage of the vast travel data held by Travelport. By applying the Watson Analytics Studio of IBM, Travelport would look to develop new services, like personalized recommendations or highlighting the best time to buy, based on previously compiled travel data. 

These tools will allow travel agency subscribers to offer more value to the travelers they serve, the company claims. Supposedly, Travelport’s wide range of travel supplier content will also become easily accessible for the travelers.