Hotel booking on Cardano

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

Decentralized traveler ID gives travelers control over their data when booking a hotel and provides efficiency for travel websites 

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

Combined 35 years in hospitality tech, 1000+ hotel system integrations, 80+ yrs full-stack dev & proven record in decentralized ID

[GENERAL] Requested funds in USD.

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

 Background

Government and travel-related solutions (travel websites, tour operators, booking engines, hotel property management systems, review systems, CRM, loyalty systems) are spending enormous efforts to capture traveller information and at different stages of the journey.

This information is used by the systems to give the traveller the best experience but also for compliance with authorities.

The traveler has to share the same information multiple times which is time-consuming, he/she does not have any control over their personal data and how it is being saved and treated.

Service providers such as hotels need to integrate this content from various sources and invest heavily in integration systems and CRMs. This creates an additional risk for service providers from not “owning” the customer experience and not being able to assure the privacy and security of their customer data.

The solution

Our vision is to create a Traveller Identity that can be used across the hospitality ecosystem. The attached image shows the various traveller journeys possible when booking hotel rooms. It is a simplified version as there could be many more cross-connection.

Our group is filing a series of proposals that would result in the most comprehensive decentralised hospitality booking ecosystem on the market. See below a checklist of the planned Traveler ID integrations and our progress:

• Integrate RateTiger hotel website booking engine (Funded in F8)
• Grow number of hotels using Traveler ID <> RateTiger integration (Proposed in F9)
• Integrate other hotel website booking engines (Proposed in F9)
• Integrate Online Travel Agency (This proposal, F9)
• Integrate Property Management System (Planned for F10)

This collaboration will be the showcase that integrating traveller ID is possible across the multiple booking opportunities for the traveller. It will then incentivise discussions with the industry actors about blockchain implementation and will position Cardano as a leader in the field.

In Fund 8 we proposed and got funded to showcase that we can connect travellers ID with hotel booking engine website. The project is progressing very well and we expect to finalize it by the schedule suggested if not before. 

This proposal focuses on the OTA (Online Travel Agent) interface with the customers. OTAs are one key source for travel booking and include global companies such as Expedia, Booking, or Airbnb and hundreds of local and regional websites. This will be a key showcase for the industry about the travel journey using Atala Prism digital ID. 

Our objective with multiple proposals is to showcase and build the infrastructure to be able to connect Traveller ID to all the various booking sources and up to the hotel PMS - property management system.

Our focus in this proposal

Our work in this proposal is split into three parts:

1. Market Research

Compiling a list of potential early adopter OTAs for our MVP, learning about their requirements and reflecting these in our MVP.

1. MVP integration

Implement the workflow, UI adjustments and API integrations required for a complete MVP with our pilot partner.

1. Pilot

Promote a pilot of the MVP with our OTA pilot partner in order to (a) learn from the outcomes and (b) create a reference case that we can use to drive adoption of the MVP among our target list of early adopters OTAs.

In the promotional activities for the pilot, we propose to incentivise the first 500 travellers to adopt the Traveler ID solution with an $20 USD in ADA payment. This has the added benefit of also helping to drive new users for Cardano.

We can make some estimates about the MVP and pilot based on our knowledge of the market:

Our MVP will focus on a narrow and needed solution for travellers and OTAs: integration of decentralised ID interactions into an OTA booking process, enabling one-click form filling and efficient booking completion. 

The solution has the potential to achieve a completely new form of handling for traveler information within the hospitality industry.

• Travelers control and manage their identity to fulfil transactions such as booking, check-in and payment. Never re-enter the same details twice, always know what data you are sharing with whom, and benefit from tailored services.
• OTA offers a seamless and privacy-preserving customer experience while reducing technology and transaction costs by establishing the efficiency of information management.

The approximate workflow is as follows:

1. User reaches the moment of booking on the online travel agent website.
2. User scans a QR code on OTA site booking engine to trigger SSI interaction
3. User receives and accepts consent request in ProofSpace App to share verifiable identity, demographic and payment information with the OTA booking engine
4. OTA receives and processes booking request.
5. User receives booking confirmation as verifiable credential (VC).
6. Hotel receives order details from the online travel agent engine.
7. Marketing: For first 500 travellers, signing up for travelerID, get $20 in ADA coupon which can be redeemed from the TravelerID app to their ADA wallet address (and a guide how to open an  ADA wallet address if he/she does not have one) with smart contract to trigger ADA 20 payment to their designated address. 

Future stages/ related :

1. Work together with the OTA on:
2. increasing the range of possible interactions using traveler ID
3. Integrate additional services such as rewards token system and payment solutions 
4. Showcase it to the industry and start a discussion around industry standards  

How we will do this:

We will pilot this MVP with one of eRevMax partner websites (partner name to follow). 

The solution is enabled by the combination of technologies from Atala PRISM, ProofSpace and eRevMax.

• Atala PRISM is being integrated into the ProofSpace no code decentralized ID platform as part of a Fund 7 proposal entitled No-Code SSI SaaS for mass adoption (see https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/385204), completing in June. 
• The ProofSpace platform can be used to define the credentials, service profiles and service interactions (collectively “the workflow”) for travel services and travellers. ProofSpace is already live with Hyperledger Indy credentials, meaning that we can production deployments prior to the production launch of Atala PRISM by IOG.
• The ProofSpace platform has existing integrations with ID verification and KYC providers for a higher level of identity assurance.
• Integration with the travel services and industry platforms can be achieved using eRevMax extensive integration infrastructure with about 400 OTAs.

The combination of these technologies and the project team’s existing large hospitality network and customer base gives this proposal a high chance of success and scale.

Impact of this proposal

The impact will be proving the integration of reusable decentralised  ID within a hotel booking process and the technology cycle from traveller ID creation to booking confirmation. This model could create a standard for other OTA and another step for integration to other systems such as hotel property management systems, guest relationship management systems, automatic room keys and many more.

b.1. Impact For Travelers

In the big picture, a traveler identity will be structured as a multi-layer credential to allow for the fulfillment of a range of possible transactions. Travelers can use the ProofSpace App, enabled with Atala PRISM credentials, to manage their credentials and complete interactions with third-party services.

• Official identity - passport and/or national ID information.
• Health - allergies, disability and access requirements, smoking preferences, COVID-19 vaccination/test status.
• Demographics - age, sex, gender pronoun preferences, marriage status, children, occupation.
• Travel preferences - seat location, floor preference, trip type (vacation, business), nutritional.

Travellers will actively provide their consent for the data sharing and complete the transaction with a single button on their phone.

Each time they reuse their multi-layer decentralised ID, they save time, claim greater control of their privacy and expand their personalised Traveller Identity Ecosystem - a network of services that aggregate around them and their preferences.

b.2. Impact For OTAs (Online travel agents) 

In our vision, this information will be connected to all systems related to the booking process of the travelers, then to the ones related to the stay at the hotel and later on also to other services the traveller meets in his journey.

In the future, we can relate and connect to other services in the Cardano ecosystem such as wallets or travel NFTs and enable ada payments for participating service providers.

Some possible interactions for OTAs include enabling the traveller to:

• Make a booking
• Earn loyalty points
• Personalized listing of hotel offerings based on traveler selected  traveler ID profile (travel for business/Vacation/family)
• Document confirmation processes made easy (e.g. passport) 

Through these interactions several internal goals can be achieved by the OTA:

• Identity verification and KYC
• Document verification
• Payment verification
• Data privacy and consent management
• Customer identity access management (online or offline)
• SSI OAuth
• Fraud prevention
• Regulatory compliance transaction monitoring

Each time the traveller uses their reusable traveller ID, the travel service provides them a better customer experience while creating a direct connection with the traveller for their future travel needs.

b.3. Impact For the Cardano community

Reusable ID for international travel represents a current market opportunity of $1bn, expected to expand to $4.82b by 2026 (Liminal 2022, https://liminal.co/reports/market-opportunity-for-reusable-identity/). This proposal unlocks the potential for Atala PRISM credentials to become the dominant credential format used in the travel sector, and will immediately start driving new users and transactions to Cardano through ADA incentive and use of PRISM credentials. 

Business model:

Once the model is established and more hotels will start adapting the solution, a small commission from each booking will be paid for the service which is a common model for technology services in the hospitality industry.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

From the challenge: What dapps, products and integrations can be implemented to bring impactful use cases to Cardano ecosystem that help drive more adoption?

From the challenge: Cardano needs a thriving ecosystem of different Dapps, products and integrations for the community to use that increasingly become the better alternatives over current centralized providers. The more interesting and useful the products and integrations are that can be built in the ecosystem the more reasons people have to interact with the Cardano blockchain that can help further drive more adoption, feedback, growth and even

• The suggested proposal will deliver a PoC of a specific use case that is typical for the hospitality industry and that could be replicated into a potential $4.8b market (Liminal 2022). The team has the experience and network to scale such a solution and integrate it with B2B relevant systems. If successful, this use case would drive significant usage of PRISM credentials in the hospitality industry. The lessons and insights gathered through this proposal would offer a set of principles for how SSI can be effectively introduced to this vertical.

A major part of the proposal is about giving people a set of portable “Traveller ID” credentials which they can carry around with them and use to complete travel related transactions and requirements.

From the challenge: Ecosystem maturity requirements - Why is this product or integration suitable for execution right now? 

The hospitality industry is a massive one and inspires each and every one of us. Blockchain technology could be a major part of creating a new type of booking experience. However, not all the Cardano technology infrastructure is ready. This is why we choose a modular approach where we are first making specific use cases of connectivity around traveler ID using two expert companies Proofspace and eRevMax. It will enable us to start working on this important industry, creating use cases, and traction, and provide more technology solutions as they come available. This is the first step of many to bringing blockchain technology to this important industry. 

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

• Travel industry resistance from major players that might perceive it as a challenge. eRevMax has the technology infrastructure and personal relationships to initiate collaboration and co-design with key stakeholders.

• Security and assurance of traveller data is a top priority but also a challenge. eRevMax has a lot of experience in mitigating this area

• Potential government regulation related to privacy and handling of official documents

• Level of engagement from OTA partner in the integration process. The integration will be run with an OTA that is an existing close partner of eRevMax, and their efforts on the integration will be partially covered in the budget for this proposal.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

Tasks

1. Market Research
2. Compile a list of OTA early adopters
3. Onboard an OTA pilot partner
4. MVP Integration
5. Design and finalise the OTA workflow, including the ADA incentive steps
6. Research OTA APIs
7. Draft and agree OTA user interface (UI) adjustment
8. Implement workflow, integrations and UI adjustment
9. Test and fix
10. Deploy workflow to production
11. Pilot
12. Promote the pilot
13. Run the pilot
14. Evaluate the pilot results
15. Develop a reference case study for other OTA early adopters
16. Present the MVP to other OTAs, start discussions and collect feedback 

Deliverables & Milestones

Sept

• Receive funds
• Complete market research
• Confirm pilot OTA partner

Oct

• Publish finalised booking workflow
• Integrations and set up underway

Nov

• Integrations complete and testing underway
• Complete planning for a small marketing campaign

Dec

• Push solution to production
• Launch marketing campaign and pilot
• First customers go through full workflow

January - February 

• Onboarded Tarvellers
• Final analysis of usecase and reports  

Managing the workload of this and other proposals:

ProofSpace:

Here is a link explaining workload management.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xkE9MMoJGXWKLl9Lkdh7c-R3hH1nn7XdMsZzRSE9LCY/edit?usp=sharing 

eRevMax : Only one project from F8 in progress, expect to complete before starting working on F9 projects. eRevMax has an existing larger development team to manage multiple projects at same time. 

Connectality:

Here is a link explaining workload management. 

For this proposal, Yoram and Connectivity will mainly serve as project admin lead & coordinator

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

Below is a detailed budget per task

A rate of $100/ hour is applied.

$10,000 of the budget will be assigned as promotion to onboard uses 500 x $20USD in ADA

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

eRevMax technology team, mostly based in India, including Cotland and Java developers (related to Atala Prism software)

eRevMax is a leading travel B2B integration technology company, founded over 20 years ago and was a leading innovator in many of the industry state of the art solutions such as rate shopping tools and channel managers. The company had over 1000 technology integrations (i.e. travel websites, booking engines, property management systems) and is being used by hotels across the globe.

For more info visit https://www.eRevMax.com or their product website https://www.RateTiger.com view the following link

https://www.erevmax.com/resources-download/RateTiger-CRS-BI-Flyer.pdf

• Udai Solanki, travel industry technology expert, Founder eRevMax.com 20 years ago, served as CTO and since last two years as CEO https://www.linkedin.com/in/solanki

ProofSpace is a multi-network identity platform, wrapped with no-code tools for building and scaling decentralized ID workflows and ecosystems. Our goal is to eliminate the barriers to adopting Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and proliferate the range and volume of use cases on production. Our vision is to power global digital inclusion and cross-chain commerce with interoperable verifiable credentials, and in so doing expand use of blockchain as a medium of trust. We are live with Hyperledger Indy, on testnet with Atala PRISM and reviewing SSI protocols on Polkadot, Ethereum and Solana. LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube | Knowledge Base

The key members of the ProofSpace team supporting this proposal include:

• Nick Mason - CEO. Experienced social entrepreneur and venture analyst with a proven track record of social venture funding and of starting and growing ventures in Europe and Africa. Background as Consultant venture analyst at Toniic, Head of Portfolio and Operations at BeyondMe, UK Director for Sierra Leone based education charity and Trustee for Street Child. Co-Founded ProofSpace (formerly ZAKA in 2019).
• Viktor Radchenko - CTO and Mobile. 20-year R&D track record. Skilled in project and product management, solution architecture, science consulting, blockchain, mobile, web, game, and embedded development. 6 publications in peer-reviewed journals. 
• Ruslan Shevchenko, PhD - Solution Architect and BE. Skilled architect and scientific researcher with 30-years’ experience across blockchain, telecom, advertising and financial services. Researcher in the Institute of Software Systems and Founder of several successful ventures including NBI (an Internet Provider), GradSoft (a software development firm) and UA Scala user group. 10 publications in peer-reviewed journals, co-authored book entitled “Methods of Algebraic Programming” and is an active columnist for the Ukrainian developers' community portal.
• Alexey Hodkov - Frontend/Backend. Talented web backend and frontend solution architect and developer with 17-years’ experience. Team leader, tech mentor and CTO in complex projects for various companies like Yandex LLC and Megogo.
• Viacheslav Zhelobkov - Senior Mobile Dev. Software developer with 20 years experience in wide variety of IT areas including embedded, mobile, web, backend, etc. in roles from solo founder to Solution Architect and CTO.
• Olesya Kershaw - Business and Customer Success Analyst. A professional musician, experienced concert pianist and teacher who made a career change into digital technologies. She uses her analytical, relationship building and research skills in her work as a business and customer success analyst, while continuously developing her technical skills.

Connectality - Yoram Ben Zvi, an industry expert with 20 years of experience in the travel technology and leisure industry as an entrepreneur as well as COO at eRevMax. As part of his role, Yoram was responsible also for sales & marketing for hotels and partnerships with hospitality technology companies (OTAs, booking engines, review systems and more)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoram-ben-zvi-446836/. Yoram is also an active catalyst community member as CA, successful proposal, and active in Cardano4Climate community

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Our goal is to develop a solution with a clear business model that is adapted to the hospitality industry. In our multiple proposals, we are building the framework and infrastructure for the hospitality industry connectivity to DID on Cardano. In the future, we might apply again for funding especially to scale and introduce more technology solutions by Cardano into the hospitality industry. For example ADA payments, smart contacts with travel agents, rewards systems, and more. All important use cases for Cardano adoption.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

Measurement of the project progress will directly align with the Deliverables & Milestones identified above.

The following milestones will be shared with the Catalyst community through community channels and/or monthly reports:

• Publish finalised booking workflow
• Confirm onboarded OTA partner
• Confirm any further onboarded OTA partners
• Integrations and set up underway
• Publish a video of the functioning workflow with dummy data
• Push to production
• First customers go through full workflow successfully (can include stakeholder attestations and feedback)

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

The key success factor will be having a successful integration with an OTA creating a new use case for the Cardano technology and Dapp for the community. The travel industry is a major one and this proposal starts with a fundamental connectivity use case for the industry. Online travel agents have the interface to a large number of travelers which could lead to mass adoption. The success of this proposal will be to showcase the technology and initiate a discussion with travel technology players about what is possible with blockchain technology.

We will measure and validate: 

• The integration process - deliverable will be integration flow chart 
• API available for other OTAs
• Usecase documentation 
• Presenting to other OTAs and getting their feedback 

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

ProofSpace is integrating Atala PRISM credentials into its platform through its F7 proposal (see https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/385204). 

Fund 8: TravelerID, https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/399697