Hotel Bookings on the Blockchain: Could a Stay Become the Next Hot Commodity?
In an effort to increase revenue and occupancy rates, some hotels are now converting bookings into tradable NFTs.
Like a lot of companies, hotel brands are starting to look for ways to add non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into their existing marketing strategy and on-site operations, including working with cryptocurrency companies to turn bookings into NFTs.
Despite the current slowdown in crypto markets and a decline in NFT sales, brands are still hopping on the tech trend in hopes that it will pay off in the end.
“We identified this emerging technology a couple of years ago and knew it was only a matter of time before we saw startups enter the hospitality space,” explained Jason Kycek, the senior vice president of sales and marketing at Casa de Campo Resort & Villas. The property—located in Dominican Republic—recently announced a partnership with Pinktada, a membership-based hotel marketing and reservation platform that allows guests to reserve rooms with transferrable room night tokens (RNTs) using blockchain technology.
Approached by Pinktada during the development stages of the platform, Casa de Campo “quickly aligned with them,” Kycek said. “We did not necessarily have any direct demand from guests inquiring to book or travel with us utilizing blockchain and NFT technology at the time, however, we had seen an increase in comments and overall dialogue of our guests on property discussing the crypto, blockchain, and NFT industry.”
