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Welcome to the October edition of our newsletter: ""From Camino Network to a Super-App Concept - Recap of Three Years Travel Un'chained," where we unpack the web3 use cases shared at Travel Un’chained 2024 and present the new Northern Star for the Camino ecosystem. It’s been three years since the first conference was hosted on Mallorca. What began as a vision has become a thriving web3 travel network with a strong global community. Today, we can see tangible results with companies like Lufthansa, Falcon Star, ISO Gruppe, Finmont, Invia, Avra, and more exploring and testing the Camino blockchain to tackle real business challenges in travel.
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Partners & SponsorsBefore diving into the use cases, let us share our gratitude to all the supporters and builders who made this vision a reality and the event a success. Primarily, we want to highlight the innovative companies who sponsored the event: - eMind — travel tech- and web-specialist
- Universal Beach Hotels — hotel chain on Mallorca with 18 prime hotels at the beach
- Involatus — virtual airline, consolidator, and aggregator in one, which is unique
- Hexens — cybersecurity provider and the main auditor of Camino Network
- freshcells — digital agency developing innovative software solutions
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Blockchain Use Cases in TravelThose outside the travel industry rarely know the true extent of the fragmentation, the dependence on legacy systems, the absence of a single source of truth, and the complexities of settlements and payments, especially in cross-border operations. At Travel Un’chained 2024, a perfect blend of use cases addressing B2B, B2C, and even B2B2C and C2B models was presented. It was perfect proof of blockchain’s potential to solve a broader range of industry challenges faster and cheaper.
Here is a short recap of keynotes on the macro view, trends and technology and the state of the web3 travel ecosystem.- Thomas Stirnimann in his opening speech on the state of the network —> Watch here
- Beat Blaser on the state of the web3 travel startup ecosystem —> Watch here
- Ben Usinger on digital payments and how we will pay in 2027 —> Watch here
- Annet Steenbergen on how digital identies are going to impact travel —> Watch here
- Yessin Schiegg on the crypto industry and market indicators —> Watch here
- Robert Wesley on loyalty programs being redefined by web3 —> Watch here
Check out this year's speakers: → Speaker line-up
Check out all 15 Travel Un'chained keynotes: → Playlist
👀 Now: Spotlight on the Camino Builder Series at Travel Un'chained ⬇️⬇️⬇️
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1. Flight Content Distribution via Camino MessengerLufthansa Group, together with ISO Travel Solutions and Chain4Travel, have connected to the Camino Messenger to use Camino Network as a distribution channel. This blockchain-based solution allows Lufthansa Group to sell to and source from partners in the whole Camino Network with just this connection. With over 700,000 flights annually, Lufthansa investigates the Messenger as a scalable solution that significantly lowers distribution costs for Lufthansa and its distribution partners and offers Lufthansa the opportunity to increase revenues by a faster time to market with new distribution partners, no matter in which region of the world. The CAM token is used for payments, making it central to the network's growing utility in everyday travel transactions.
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2. B2B Stablecoin Payments for Non-BSP CountriesIn 180 countries, airlines and travel agencies settle payments via the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP). However, in non-BSP countries, airlines must set up their own agreements, leading to complex, slow, and risky payments with high costs. Lufthansa Group and FinMont developed a new payment flow using stablecoins like USDC and EUROC, with all transactions documented on Camino Network for auditing purposes. This solution allows travel agencies to settle payments securely via blockchain, significantly reducing settlement time and risk.
The system, set to go live in 2025, will make business more efficient in regions without established payment infrastructure.
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3. BuyBack Marketplace for the Travel IndustryEvery year, travelers lose millions on non-refundable bookings due to changed plans. These unused flights, hotel bookings, and car rentals remain unused, causing losses for both travelers and service providers. The BuyBack tech platform by InfoComm Management lets travelers resell their unused bookings back to the supplier. Travel service providers have the option to “buy back” these bookings, resell them to new customers, and generate additional revenue. Each booking is tokenized as an NFT, enabling seamless transfers. Camino Network facilitates these transactions, enabling a whole new business model - C2B by digital assets on-chain.
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4. Traveler’s Journey from Airline Tickets to Room Access Powered by CaminoManaging every aspect of a travel journey—from booking flights to accessing hotel rooms—can be full of friction and cumbersome. Falcon Star Group and ISO Gruppe are using Camino Network to create a unified, blockchain-powered, frictionless customer journey. It covers a whole luxury holiday trip with Falcon Star's luxury charter airline and their own holiday resort in Cyprus they are currently building. The combination of web3 and web2 elements along the customer journey and value chain will reduce costs by up to 30% for Falcon Star.
By integrating all aspects of travel into one platform, this solution sets a new standard for operational efficiency and user experience.
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5. Selling Excursions via Camino MessengerExcursion bookings are often plagued by issues like service verification, delayed payments, and lack of standardization, making excursion sales frustrating for resellers, distributors, and suppliers. Invia Group, the leading Pan-European OTA, uses Camino Messenger to simplify this process. Blockchain ensures faster payments and standardized processes, reducing inefficiencies. For tourists, this means smoother purchasing and voucher redemption experiences. For suppliers, it means faster and more reliable compensation, and for sellers, more control over the whole process. Camino Messenger makes selling activities easy, reducing payment times, setting standards, ensuring control and transparency, and increasing stakeholder satisfaction.
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6. Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) - Travel Insurance RedefinedTravelers often face non-refundable bookings and lose money when plans change. The existing systems need more flexibility. Avata and Sleap.io are developing a blockchain-based CFAR solution. It allows travelers to cancel their bookings up to 24 hours before check-in and receive instant and automatic payouts, covering up to 90% of the booking cost.
This system uses tokenized assets and smart contracts to automate compensation, ensuring transparency and speed.
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7. First Crypto-Based Travel Shop in GreeceWith the growing number of crypto owners, the travel industry is adapting its offers to provide new payment solutions. AVRA Tours, a Greek DMC, presented on stage Greece’s first crypto-based travel e-shop on Camino Network.
Their new platform will allow crypto-savvy travelers to plan and book their trips to Greece using cryptocurrencies.
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WeChat for the Travel IndustryPablo Castillo (CEO & CTO at Chain4Travel) ended the conference with his keynote and a clear statement. We have built the infrastructure (Camino Network) and then the connectivity (Camino Messenger) for all partners in the network: suppliers and distributors. Now, an app framework will make everything accessible to everyone in the network. Imagine a super app for the travel industry, similar to WeChat but explicitly designed to meet the needs of providers and distributors. This app would allow travel companies to create, manage seamlessly, and bundle travel products: flights, hotels, transfers, and excursions for their customers. Blockchain technology as the backend ensures real-time data synchronization, secure payments, and automized settlements across global partners.
→ Watch Pablo's presentation here
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Receive a 20,000 CAM Token GrantLufthansa has shown the way; now it is your turn: connect to Messenger and get started with the first blockchain-based travel distribution platform. “Connect to one, connect to all.” All travel product suppliers and distributors are invited to install and set up the Camino Messenger. The great news: Everyone connected before the end of this year is eligible for a grant of 20,000 CAM tokens from the Camino Network Foundation. Take your opportunity to be early in the fast-growing web3 travel ecosystem of Camino Network operating on a unified travel data standard. Request a demo and get on board!
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