BukProtocol: Driving tokenization in the travel industry
The travel industry dates back centuries, and yet travel decisions are cumbersome trying to find the right mix of price and cancellation policies. Booking a flight or a hotel still requires travelers to search on a mix of local and global travel portals, hunting for the right price and availability. And then, if travel plans change the cost of cancellations is thrust upon the traveler again, or added a premium in base price to compensate for the cancellations.
Why does this happen even in today’s hyperconnected world? In an era where travel is more accessible than ever, technology facilitating the distribution of travel inventory and accessibility seems to be considerably older. There are numerous instances where travelers reach the check-in desk to discover that their booking hasn’t been processed to the hotel or airline.
At the same time, the travel industry itself is a huge source of untapped Real World Assets (RWAs). Hotel and Flight bookings representing the right to stay or travel, are assets which can be harnessed just like other RWAs, such as real estate or stock options. However, today, these assets are either never traded at all, or traded in closed permissioned marketplaces with limited players, thus reducing the potential of commerce which can be undertaken through them.
It is in this space that Buk Protocol stands as a disruptor, transforming the way we plan our travels. Using Buk Protocol, connected dApps and travel suppliers can take advantage of the tokenization of travel, leading to flatter-wider distribution, enhancing transparency, and transforming how travelers and providers buy, sell and distribute. Let’s delve into how Buk Protocol is making this happen:
What is BUK Protocol?
BUK Protocol is a solution stack of modular components which can be used to source, tokenize and distribute all “assets” that expire a.k.a. dynamic assets (Assets here correspond to anything of value that is being transacted upon — access to a space, a reservation, a ticket or a booking).
Value of dynamic assets changes over time or based on usage, and hence, on-chain operations and trading of such assets requires industry specific rules and guardrails. The BUK Protocol includes a suite of smart contracts, Marketplace features, Oracles and SDKs / APIs to connect to Real World services, and pre-built connectors with other web2/web3 services. It provides a seamless approach to build dApps and services relating to dynamic assets for asset owners, web3 marketplaces and other players for a variety of use cases.
Secondary Markets
Buk Protocol introduces secondary markets for dynamic RWAs, unlocking new opportunities for both travelers and providers. These secondary marketplaces enable travelers to resell their bookings, addressing the problem of cancellation fees and providing added flexibility. At the same time, every resell earns the asset owner — hotels, airlines or travel service providers — additional revenue irrespective of their involvement in the resell activity. Using the blockchain, Buk Protocol provides recurring royalties to asset owners and operators across the supply chain for each resell.
Reselling adds to traveler’s options, while adding a new revenue stream for providers to earn royalties from each transaction. In fact, reselling unlocks a new asset class — you might have heard of different events or games causing a surge in hotel or flight ticket prices. Seizing such opportunities, travelers and traders can buy some inventory early on, and provide liquidity to last minute travelers closer to the event dates, while benefiting hotel or airlines through higher cash flow and resale royalties.
Enhancing Flexibility
The traveler’s dilemma of cancellation fees is now not a worry with resellable bookings via Buk Protocol. As Buk enhances flexibility and empowers travelers to manage their plans with tokenized booking. Let’s say you booked a flight and hotel room for your trip to Bali, unfortunately at the very end you were unable to travel. Buk Protocol gives you power to resell skipping 10–45% of cancellation fee. Moreover, hotels become integral parts of the ecosystem, benefiting from increased revenue streams whenever a room is resold and contributing to the overall improvement of RevPAR by at least 5%. This also enables asset owners to sell more non-refundable bookings, which add improved revenue assurance.
Streamlining Distribution by offering Transparency and Control
Using BUK Protocol asset owners and operators — such as hotels, airlines, bedbanks, travel portals or other travel intermediaries — can leverage the power of the blockchain and RWA tokenization to streamline distribution of their inventory and open newer revenue streams.
BUK Protocol ushers in a new era of efficiency and profitability by using blockchain to tokenize inventory, Buk Protocol reduces costs of distribution and eliminates missed revenue opportunities tapping resellability as a revenue stream rather than a revenue risk, and also ensuring that both travelers and providers benefit.
Further unlike current systems, which often lack visibility beyond primary sales, Buk Protocol empowers providers with real-time insights and control over their inventory. This brings in unprecedented visibility, transparency and control over inventory distribution. With tokenization provenance can be established, while on-chain visibility adds to transparency of the entire value chain.
Composability of innovative app landscape
With Buk Protocol, neither asset owners nor intermediaries need to worry about dealing with the complexity of interacting with the blockchain or making changes to their existing system landscape. Buk Protocol provides seamless connectivity via SDKs and APIs for existing technology integrators to connect existing systems with the blockchain.
The composable architecture of BukProtocol also ensures that any other developer or company can build on top of Buk, in a permissionless way, to create unique use cases and provisions. For example, a developer can decide to launch an auction platform for the tokenized bookings of NYE at NYC, or use the tokenized bookings as a proof-of-stay for loyalty points or verified reviews integration.
DeFi & Gamified Staking
Tokenization transforms asset ownership by allowing holders of dynamic assets to leverage their holdings for borrowing funds against their tokenized dynamic RWAs. This approach transforms stagnant RWA ownership into a dynamic financial instrument, empowering holders to access liquidity by collateralising their assets. By enabling lending against dynamic asset ownership, Gamified Staking directly addresses the liquidity challenges faced by various sectors, particularly empowering hotels to utilize their existing inventory to meet cash flow and working capital requirements effectively.
Through such staking, hotels can optimize their asset utilization by leveraging their inventory to secure much-needed funds. This mechanism not only enhances the liquidity of hotel assets but also facilitates efficient capital management, enabling hotels to maintain operational continuity and seize growth opportunities. By gamifying staking processes, this innovative financial model incentivizes asset holders to actively engage in unlocking the latent value of their holdings, thereby fostering an ecosystem where assets become tools for economic growth and resource optimization.
Buk Protocol is spearheading a revolution in the travel and hospitality industry by reimagining distribution, enhancing transparency, and fostering a more flexible ecosystem for all stakeholders. As Buk Protocol continues to innovate and expand its reach, the future of travel and hospitality looks brighter than ever before. Join us in the future of travel with Buk Protocol.
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