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Blockchain is also making waves in the travel industry, allowing people to keep track of their luggage, get better rates on extra rooms, participate in the sharing economy, and set up secure payment channels, all without paying an intermediary to handle it for them. Winding Tree is using blockchain to disintermediate the process of filling excess vacancies on flights and in hotels and has already partnered with Nordic Choice hotels, as well as Lufthansa, Swiss Air, and Eurowings. Beenest is doing the same thing with home shares - its like Airbnb, but without giving them a piece of the pie. Trippki is creating a decentralized rewards ecosystem with travelers and hotels, making rewards transferable while still allowing hotels the flexibility to make specialized offers. Definitely one of the largest problems facing the travel industry today is identity management. How can an airline be sure if the person getting on their flight is the person whose name is on the ticket? What happens if you lose your driver’s license or passport before taking a flight? It turns out that this problem is challenging alone, but here’s what companies in the travel industry are doing to solve it on their end. SITA, the IT company providing support to a lot of the airline industry, has created the Digital Traveler Identity App, which uses blockchain to link a traveler to their identity and allows airlines and agencies to verify their identity easily, while keeping the privacy controls in the hands of the user. Additionally, Dubai’s Immigration and Visa Department has partnered with a UK-based startup ObjectTech to develop a digital passport concept combining biometrics and blockchain technology. ObjectTech is expected to launch its pilot program at the Dubai Airport in 2020. Next, we’ll be talking about broader approaches to digital identity.