Webjet Develops Blockchain-Based Hotel Bookings And Verification Platform Jointly with Microsoft

Webjet Limited, a digital travel business spanning both global consumer markets and wholesale markets, has developed and launched Rezchain, a blockchain-based hotel distribution platform that allows companies to share booking data. The project, which was pioneered in conjunction with Microsoft, is a new technology that will help Webjet to curtail the disparities that usually occur in the booking status of hotels such as currencies, rooms, pricings, durations, and the verification process of the data.

As stated in the announcement released on Nov. 7, Rezchain, as a new blockchain innovation, is the first of its kind to be used in hotel reservations verification, being the product of three essential features of blockchain, namely: robustness, independence, and security. Therefore, the system has the ability to enable any two parties to verify their hotel reservation data and find out whether the data matches across both booking systems, which does not need any sophisticated IT integration.

John Guscic, Managing Director, Webjet, commented: “Settlement between hotel suppliers and travel partners can be a complex, time consuming, and ultimately costly process. With multiple IT systems speaking different languages, mistakes are probable, and the default position is often to write off debts when the situation is not clear. For years, the industry considered it a cost of doing business. But, with Rezchain, it doesn’t have to be that way any longer.”

When the system has received updates about the daily booking activities of two parties, it then utilizes Smart Contracts to highlight any discrepancies in the matching and will thus send an email if there is any form of mismatch.

WebBeds has been using this new technology in its B2B accommodation wholesaling for several months. Currently, Rezchain is available to any travel industry that uses the XML interface in transacting its business over the internet. A 30-day free trial will be given, after which a certain amount per transaction will be charged for using the platform.

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