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Writer's pictureJack Casey

Hotel Rooms Are Being Treated As NFT's Post-Pandemic

Updated: Jan 23, 2023


Courtesy - https://aremorch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/10-digital-marketing-strategies-for-hotels-that-connect-with-the-customer-and-you-dont-want-to-miss-in-2020.png


Bit of an odd one here, but the hospitality industry and guest services have always interested me and after seeing this article I had to give my take.


At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hotel stays and going out to eat took a steep decline for obvious reasons. Now coming out of the pandemic in the modern era of crypto currency/virtual property, people like retailers, landlords, and even hotel managers are looking to enter the space.


One issue that has always been a financial struggle, specifically the hotel portion of the industry, is last minute cancellations on room bookings. To work around this, hotels have begun using the still foreign and not fully understood system of non fungible tokens.


With this system, guests can purchase a room booking like normal, but if said guest’s plans change and they have to cancel at the last minute they can sell their reservation to another potential guest rather than canceling with the hotel.


Having to refund/cancel a reservation was already tedious financially, but it also leaves a room unused resulting in a loss for the hotel. Services cannot be stored. A small hotel with let's say 10 rooms that only sells 6 rooms on a particular night can’t store the 4 that weren't sold and surplus them for later.


Now with this technology a room reservation is treated as a currency somewhat, allowing the hotel to still have rooms occupied, collect their fee, and the original buyer can continue with their new plans without penalty.


Customer retention is huge in hotels. It allows guests to have their favorite hotel to return to every time they visit a particular place.


This customer retention is achieved through customer satisfaction, and I believe a customer would be satisfied if they can simply go on their phone and sell their hotel room instead of having to call the front desk and go through a process that, depending on the terms of their reservation, may result in not being eligible for a refund.


The idea of rooms being used as NFTs is pitched as a win, win, win. Pinktada is a company that recently launched a booking system that includes hotels in the Caribbean, Mexico, San Francisco and Hawaii.


“You give hotel owners certainty of income, but give travelers the flexibility if their plans change to sell or swap tokens”, Mark Gordon, Pinktada’s co-founder and chief hospitality officer said in the source article done with The Wall Street Journal.


But with NFTs being so new and foreign to most consumers, do they have enough backing and support to be used in this way? Well, it is still slightly too early to tell within the hospitality industry specifically, but jobs within the NFT field are on the rise.


According to Global Data, for over 300 companies tracked during the last two quarters, NFT-related jobs open for application (active jobs) increased by 127%, from 172 in December 2021 to 390 in March 2022.



To conclude, I personally am for this proposition. I think that it is a consumer's right to do what they want when they purchase an item. Whether it is a ticket, booking, etc. they should be able to give it away, sell it, or use it as it should be labeled as their property after purchasing it themselves.


While I support this, I think that it should have an alternative to the usage of NFTs. Their potential and profitability is evident, but their usage is still confusing to the average American citizen. If one’s grandparents in the 65-85 year old demographic can’t use it, I would advise an easy to use system that could still transact NFTs, possibly through phone calls or an easy to use app.


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