Blockchain

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
costa-brava
Posts: 689
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:57 am
Location: costa brava spain
Contact:

Blockchain

Post by costa-brava »

Way back about 1995 we advertised with Dalton's Weekly and we got our enquiries by phone or fax. Then I got a call from Holiday Rentals offering the chance to advertise in the internet. "Sorry but I don't have a PC.......... no problem, we can convert the enquiries to fax." So off we went and for the first year we were the only people from the Costa Brava in internet. So I got myself a PC and for a few years it went great. Then the market got flooded with lots more owners, then the crisis etc. etc.
And now we are retired but I still like to watch what's going on. For lots of owners the high-commission platforms are killing the business. So what's the next move in the game? It's got to be blockchain. I'm not the person to explain what's blockchain. But I know it's the technology behind the cryptocurrencies.
There is one site called locktrip.com that is still just a start-up but it offers listings for practically zero commission.
It's still a bit away from hitting head-on with ABB but I have a feeling that ABB and Trip etc will go down the block road and commission rates will come crashing down. Every cloud has a silver lining (if you pardon the pun).
AndrewH
Posts: 1499
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2013 1:17 pm
Location: Kefalonia, Greece
Contact:

Post by AndrewH »

Anything which pulls the plug on the commission that these greedy OTA's charge will be be a boon to owners and holidaymakers alike.

I have watched the promotion video on locktrip .com but I find it hard to follow, but then 'blockchain' is still a puzzle to me. Am I to understand that owners would receive payments in a cryptocurrency and this will somehow reduce the commissions, which are now paid either by the owner or the holidaymaker, or both, depending on where one lists?
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

Why on earth would anyone sign up to something that is so easily subject to fraud????
http://theconversation.com/how-cryptocu ... ork-114706
User avatar
Mouse
Posts: 7277
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:47 pm
Location: Balearics
Contact:

Post by Mouse »

I too wonder how long these companies will get away with charging extortionate commissions. I had hoped it might be consumer led, by the holidaymakers when they finally realise that they are paying much more when seeing the 'fee'. Perhaps these sites have also wondered this hence the move to hiding it by starting to make the owners pay the fees.

I sincerely hope their bubble does burst but I don't know if blockchain would do it. Perhaps some owners would welcome it but not enough.

There are many owners who are happy just to hand over their businesses to these companies for an easy life. As are holidaymakers who feel booking with the big co's is a safe/easy option. I think apathy is a major problem, and that's what they pray on....along with the fear factor they promote that owners will scam you.

It is terribly sad to me how this whole industry has changed....including how the big companies treat owners like mugs. Again because they can....after all we are just individuals and not a large hotel chain.

Mousie
x
costa-brava
Posts: 689
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:57 am
Location: costa brava spain
Contact:

Post by costa-brava »

SPJ Wrote: "Why on earth would anyone sign up to something that is so easily subject to fraud????"
Holiday lets are already in the fraud risk league. A couple of years back ODirect took a lot of stick from BBC Watchdog and their answer was to take the payment out of the hands of the owner. Now payment via the listing site is more or less universal but there is still the chance of fraud. You can still book a property that doesn't exist.
I just stumbled on this blockchain thing the other day so it is still a puzzle to me. But it looks promising. The banks are getting together with "tokens" (as opposed to bit-coin) and it is not restricted to money. But here is an interesting take on how credit cards could develop.
https://www.cryptonewsz.com/will-blockc ... ure/13435/
Post Reply