Blockchain holds many promises for the future economy. We picture DeFi platforms, DAO-controlled ecosystems, the Web3 metaverse, Play-to-Earn gaming, and NFT-driven marketplaces. This is all incredibly important, and is getting closer to a mainstream reality every day. However, this is looking at blockchain applications in a blockchain economy. There have been a number of platforms developed with unique use cases, from real-estate NFT ownership, to self-sovereign identity solutions, to a notary-style functionary. But how often have we looked at a layer-1 blockchain representing an entire industry?
It’s a new concept, but one that bears some consideration. If an entire industry developed a thriving ecosystem that combined the benefits of competition with the efficiency of smart contracts, and represented a full selection of industry services in one location—wouldn’t that have tremendous value for the businesses and customers alike? It would be even more relevant if the industry in question was extremely complex, with various elements highly dependant on each other. An industry where the customer experience today was highly disjointed, opaque, and took considerable investments in both time and money.
Fortunately, we can examine this precise use case in detail, because it is in the process of happening. A large, global travel industry consortium has joined forces to create a full spectrum travel blockchain in order to create efficiencies between services, better organize travel business partnerships, and to create a seamless planning and travel experience for customers, no matter where in the world they travel.
Let’s take a deep look at Camino Network, a travel-based blockchain that is very much by the travel industry, for the travel industry. We will look at the history and creation of the chain, what problems it solves for its partners, and how it transforms the customer experience. Finally, we will speculate on what other industries would benefit from a similar model.
Camino Network Motivation and Origins
If you’ve taken any type of trip in the last 30 years, you know that the travel industry is disjointed, complex, confusing, and not at all smooth. Sadly, even with vast improvements in technology, the task of creating a holiday is time intensive, stressful, and feels much more expensive than it should be. Travelers can choose all-inclusive tours, but these too are often overpriced and offer very limited flexibility for those who want to visit certain locations and set up their own list of adventures. This is a global industry with nearly $6 Trillion in revenue annually, but the technology to make it easier has not improved as much as expected. Yes, there are sites where you can see a collection of flights, hotels, and more, but this is a far cry from all the travel, lodging, experiences, and everything in between that goes into planning a trip. The average trip can take over 20 hours to plan, scouring dozens of websites, and travelers often use 7-8 different apps to plan and experience the trip. From a user’s perspective, the system has remained broken and backwards. Sadly, the situation isn’t much better for businesses, who are constantly trying to develop partnerships, consortiums, and networks so that users can find and book them more easily. However, with a global backdrop, finding a common ground for a platform has proven unsuccessful.
Camino Network is the brainchild of travel industry veterans Ralf Usbeck, Thomas Stirnimann and Pablo Castillo. Together they formed Chain4Travel in late 2021, which is acting as the facilitator to first set up the Camino Network, and then release it as a DAO to the travel community. Their goal was to unify those travel businesses around the world who want to work together, create efficiency in the planning and booking process, and have a platform where these interactions can easily take place.
What Does Camino Do?
Camino Network is a Layer-1 blockchain that caters specifically to the needs of the travel industry. It’s important to note that this chain is a platform that doesn’t offers services to travelers, but rather the architecture set up for travel businesses to build dApps and smart contracts to interact with each other and create seamless travel experiences with travelers. The chain was specifically designed to be handed over to the travel community in a way that would ensure the direction and control would be maintained not by investors, but by actual travel companies. In order to do this, they have a three tiered system for their community:
- Users (these would be the end customers) can read data from the chain and interact with smart contracts (i.e., buy products and services)
- Partners, after undergoing KYC/KYB verification, can deploy their own smart contracts on the chain, which allows them to essentially set up shop, establish partnerships, and serve the Users.
- Unlike many chains, the node validators cannot be anyone who stakes tokens for the purpose. Partners (travel businesses) can apply to become a validator by staking the platform token (CAM), but then must be approved by the current validators to join them as a Consortium Member. This ensures that the comsortium will be controlled solely by the travel companies who are active and invested in the ecosystem’s success.
An Improved Ecosystem for Business and Customer Alike
A dedicated blockchain for the travel industry will be a very interesting experiment, and one to watch closely. What happens when a global industry establishes its own ecosystem, with a single token to act as a seamless currency? What happens when P2P interactions are made easy and travel companies can partner to provide services from the perspective of a traveler looking to plan a trip? And what happens when a traveler can find a single source to plan and book their trip, with transportation, lodging, adventures, and everything else they need represented in that single marketplace?
Could Other Industries Benefit?
We will see how the Camino Network evolves, but it is likely that the roadmap they’ve established can benefit many different industries. There are many industries that are global, disjointed, have no central guidance, and have no coordinated power to efficiently interact. By using the power of smart contracts, a common token, and an industry-held DAO, we may be witnessing the birth of a new trend in global economics.
Wrapping Up
The Camino Network has given not just the travel industry, but all industries something to think about. While it has already established a chain and token, and 80+ validators from the travel industry, there is more to come as the partners start launching countless dApps on the chain and interacting with travelers around the world.
