The travel and tourism industry generates a staggering $500+ billion per year, but due to the heavily centralized structure of the current ecosystem, between 10% and 25% of this gigantic pie end up in the hands of the market’s middlemen.
LockTrip is on a mission to provide a decentralized solution to this problem, bringing the value back to the end-customers by allowing them to connect directly to the hotels.
By harnessing the power of the blockchain technology, the company eliminates all middlemen and is thereby significantly reducing the prices of hotels and rented accommodation for the end customer. LockTrip’s platform charges zero commission to the accommodation and property rental sector.
A few months ago, LockTrip pleasantly surprised us by adding 100,000 hotels to their marketplace. This time however, they have really surpassed all expectations – through strategic partnership deals made over the past few months, they have managed to get onboard more than 300,000 new hotels around the globe, while securing the 100,000 they had before, for a second time (more about that later). This means that with the new additions, the total amount of hotels listed on their marketplace will increase to over 400,000!
What do 300,000 new hotels mean for LockTrip?
Current estimates put the total hotel inventory at roughly 700,000 worldwide. With an inventory of 400,000, LockTrip will soon provide access to more than half of all hotels around the globe.
More importantly, their inventory includes most of the major hotels already. So it is safe to say, that from the perspective of bed and booking capacity, you will soon be able to book a large majority of the global offerings.
Not only do they have a much broader inventory now, but they also have a much stronger presence in Asia and Africa. Another major difference is the expansion beyond the 3–5 star hotel category into all possible accommodation types available, including hostels, motels, 1 and 2-star hotels, as well as 6-star luxury resorts.
The first 100,000 secured… again?
At first, securing the same hotel a second time might sound confusing. Why would you invest resources to get something you already have, right?
To understand, you have to know that inventory does not equal inventory. Different distributors can have different prices for the same hotel at the same day. There are endless factors resulting in unique prices, which make it impossible to predict them in a meaningful way.
This is, why LockTrip’s strategy is based on securing the same inventory multiple times, in order to then select and display the best offer available. LockTrip users can expect some small improvements in their competitiveness as a result of those efforts (especially in the region of Asia).
When can you book the new hotels?
LockTrip expects to complete the integration by the end of this year. Coupled with the pending fiat payment feature, they will be very well positioned for 2019 and beyond.
LockTrip is the first marketplace with 0% commission where you can save on average 20% on your hotel and rental bookings compared to anywhere else. Learn how to buy LOC tokens to enable access to the LockTrip marketplace and its lower prices here!
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