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    Boston dockworkers among thousands on strike nationwide 

    High tariffs, immigration crackdown, funding cuts: BU professor warns of ‘Trump Trifecta’ 

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Madeleine Dean demand food and beverage CEOs put a stop to ‘shrinkflation’ 

    Mass. leaders worried for seniors and kids as Trump agenda bill clears House 

    What Is ‘Big Law?’ 

    Stop Making Cents: US Mint Moves Forward With Plans to Kill the Penny 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse? 

    The Right Amount of Cards, Cash and ID to Carry in Your Wallet

    The ‘Best and Final’ Job Offer Usually Isn’t Final. How You Can Negotiate 

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

    In a ‘work-from-anywhere’ world, where are people working?

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    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse? 

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    Boston dockworkers among thousands on strike nationwide 

    High tariffs, immigration crackdown, funding cuts: BU professor warns of ‘Trump Trifecta’ 

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Madeleine Dean demand food and beverage CEOs put a stop to ‘shrinkflation’ 

    Mass. leaders worried for seniors and kids as Trump agenda bill clears House 

    What Is ‘Big Law?’ 

    Stop Making Cents: US Mint Moves Forward With Plans to Kill the Penny 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse? 

    The Right Amount of Cards, Cash and ID to Carry in Your Wallet

    The ‘Best and Final’ Job Offer Usually Isn’t Final. How You Can Negotiate 

    From Hollywood to the Hardware Store: The Real-World Impact of a 100% Tariff 

    From Hollywood to the Hardware Store: The Real-World Impact of a 100% Tariff 

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

  • Videos & Podcast
    • All
    • Podcast
    • Videos
    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Tariffs and Their Economic Impact

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Navigating Internet Privacy: Unpacking Cookies, Dark Patterns, and Future Data Protection Challenges (2)

    Beyond Prototypes: Rethinking Innovation in Complex Ecosystems with Prof. Douglas Hannah

    Beyond Prototypes: Rethinking Innovation in Complex Ecosystems with Prof. Douglas Hannah

    Is Business Broken? Season 2 out now! 

    Is Business Broken? Season 2 out now! 

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Redefining Retirement: Navigating Emotional and Social Transitions with Insightful Strategies

    Life After Cookies: Who Uses Google’s Privacy Sandbox? – Garrett Johnson

    Life After Cookies: Who Uses Google’s Privacy Sandbox? – Garrett Johnson

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Real Estate Ripples from a Landmark Settlement

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    The Hidden Wisdom of Cultural Pushback

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Fusion Strategy: Navigating the Industrial Evolution

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    Boston dockworkers among thousands on strike nationwide 

    High tariffs, immigration crackdown, funding cuts: BU professor warns of ‘Trump Trifecta’ 

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Madeleine Dean demand food and beverage CEOs put a stop to ‘shrinkflation’ 

    Mass. leaders worried for seniors and kids as Trump agenda bill clears House 

    What Is ‘Big Law?’ 

    Stop Making Cents: US Mint Moves Forward With Plans to Kill the Penny 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse? 

    The Right Amount of Cards, Cash and ID to Carry in Your Wallet

    The ‘Best and Final’ Job Offer Usually Isn’t Final. How You Can Negotiate 

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

    In a ‘work-from-anywhere’ world, where are people working?

    79,000 lost jobs. $13 billion in GDP gone. Study tallies potential hit to Mass. from Trump’s ‘economic attack.’

    The Hidden Risk of Getting Paid in Stock Options 

    Trump Administration Cancels Scores of Grants to Study Online Misinformation 

  • Publications
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    • Books
    • Harvard Business Review
    • Journals
    • Sloan Management Review
    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse? 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    How to Monetize Volunteer-Driven Platforms 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Leading Global Teams Effectively 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Research: When Prototypes Don’t Yield Useful Insights 

    Transforming Products into Platforms: Unearthing New Avenues for Business Innovation

    Transforming Products into Platforms: Unearthing New Avenues for Business Innovation

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    We’re Still Lonely at Work

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    17 Team-Building Activities for In-Person, Remote, and Hybrid Teams

    3 Ways to Support Employees with Bipolar Disorder

    3 Ways to Support Employees with Bipolar Disorder

    Will That Marketplace Succeed?

    Will That Marketplace Succeed?

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Home Our Insights Business Challenges

Cryptocurrency and Travel – What you need to know

J.P. MatychakbyJ.P. Matychak
October 5, 2021
in Business Challenges, Digital Business, Technology
19
0

Bitcoin, Stock Market and Exchange, Currency, Ingot,Tokyo

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Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have exploded in value, but has that growth translated into actual use as a medium of exchange? Dr. Gerry Tsoukalas, Associate Professor of Information Systems at Questrom, explores how the travel industry is making use of cryptocurrency and how much further the technology has to go in terms of widespread adoption in this Insights@Questrom interview.

What kind of inroads is cryptocurrency making in the travel industry? 

We’re largely still at the experimental stage at the moment. Some firms, like cheapair.com, have had success enabling crypto payments for consumers, but the majority of travel firms still do not have the necessary infrastructure in place to be able to handle crypto payments.

What percentage of bookings are being handled in cryptocurrency now, and what is the outlook for the future? 

It’s hard to keep track of this, on any level, but it’s safe to say it’s still a very insignificant percentage. Even at cheapair.com, which is crypto-friendly and considered one of the pioneering travel platforms in terms of accepting crypto payments, we are likely talking about less than 1%. This is growing, albeit not at a rapid pace.

What are the obstacles to crypto adoption in this space? Can they be overcome? 

Obstacles abound, starting with structural hurdles: the travel industry has many intermediaries and most of them want to be paid in fiat (in turn, this is partly because they need to pay their own suppliers and employees in fiat). For platforms like Cheapair and Expedia, this means having to either i) partner with crypto firms like Coinbase to handle the payments or ii) spend a significant amount of capital to develop new IT infrastructure and train their people to handle such transactions. Both options are costly. Relatedly, with the exception of stablecoins, accepting crypto payments means taking on exchange-rate risk due to excessive volatility. By the time a company processes a crypto transaction and converts it back to fiat to pay its own suppliers or employees, it could lose a non-trivial amount of money (if the position moves against it).

How can consumers best position themselves to take advantage of these new currencies when planning travel? 

It’s generally good to have different payment options. For those savvy consumers that have already invested in crypto, paying in crypto for a flight or a hotel can be quite seamless and straightforward. For the rest of consumers, there is little downside in getting familiar with Bitcoin at this stage. Platforms like Coinbase make it relatively easy, and are slowly but surely making inroads to bring crypto to the masses.

What other industries may adapt to the use of cryptocurrency in a manner similar to what we’re seeing in travel? 

Given cryptocurrency can be used for payments, it could potentially seep into all industries and sectors of the economy. Beyond payments, however, there is a possibility of a much larger disruption on the horizon. At its core, the blockchain technology powering the crypto is about eliminating centralization and middlemen, while a large part of the travel industry is built on this type of model. We haven’t seen any significant disruption yet, but if I were in this industry, I’d be questioning my business model regularly.

Some sectors will be more prone to disruption than others. For instance, in transportation, hospitality and food, there are numerous blockchain-based startups trying to compete against platforms like Uber, Airbnb and Doordash, who regularly take cuts ranging from 20%-50% of revenues. These startups are basically betting on the fact that the coordination services these platforms are offering can be replicated in a decentralized way, and are promising to give workers back most of these fees; not to mention, more autonomy as well.

Beyond these sectors, most of the disruption is currently happening in financial services, particularly in cross-border payments, trading, and investing. In healthcare, we’re seeing blockchain initiatives to facilitate record authentication and sharing. In the media industry, blockchain-based startups leverage crowdsourcing to post and vet content and combat fake news. In art and collectibles, blockchain-based technologies like NFTs (non fungible tokens) are redefining ownership. Some governments are also looking into blockchain technology for identification, voting, and other applications. The list goes on and on… and while arguably not every industry or economic sector is going to be affected, it’s looking increasingly likely that many will be.

 

Tags: CryptocurrencyGerry Tsoukalas
J.P. Matychak

J.P. Matychak

J.P. Matychak is Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives & Chief of Staff at BU Questrom School of Business. He also serves as the managing editor for Insights@Questrom and host of the Insights@Questrom Podcast. J.P. holds a BS in Business and Economics from Lehigh University, an MEd in Higher Education Management from the University of Pittsburgh, and an EdD in Administrative and Policy Studies in Higher Education from the University of Pittsburgh. J.P.’s research focuses on traditional strategic planning, new methods for strategic planning that infuse agile and design thinking methods, and leadership in higher education.

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