Companies such as Nike, Adidas and Visa, as well as Budweiser and Samsung, currently invest a lot of money in so-called NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Appearing at first glance to be nothing more than a digital image, NFTs are non-interchangeable asset stores and thus hold the possibility of adding value to previously intangible goods and integrating them into the value creation ecosystem. This provides limitless opportunities for the hotel and hospitality industry to develop new scalable business models and value creation systems. In its study entitled “FutureHotel — Token Economy. Use Potential of Non-Fungible Tokens for Hotel Business”, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO explains NFT technologies, how to evaluate NFTs and the risks and challenges involved, and presents relevant application cases for the hotel industry that can be implemented today and in the future. The study covers everything from starting out with NFT hotel bookings and opening the first NFT hotel to launching the first resort that offers investment options via NFTs. Using application cases and practical examples of how to implement the technology in hotel strategies, the study provides concrete conclusions and recommendations for action. The research findings result from the seventh phase of the “FutureHotel Innovation Network” project spearheaded by Fraunhofer IAO.
Global market capitalization promises large NFT potential for the hotel industry
“Non-fungible tokens” are non-interchangeable asset stores, which are unique and cannot be replaced by another object, unlike exchangeable asset stores like currencies. This allows previously intangible goods such as digital assets, rights of use for certain groups of people, access for certain people or a certain period of time, as well as certain services to be made tradable in a certain form by clearly assigning the rights to a person, an institution or a company. Prof. Dr. Vanessa Borkmann, who helped establish and manages the FutureHotel Innovation Network project at Fraunhofer IAO, says: “In 2020, the market capitalization of global transactions involving an NFT was 338 million dollars. Even though the games and collectibles categories have the highest transaction rates, we can safely say that the hotel industry is a market segment with great NFT potential.”
Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
