Tourism 2.0 is a B2B marketplace that connects the hotel sector and tour operators with potential customers, without the need for intermediaries. Marketplaces are distribution platforms where electronic businesses can offer their services thanks to intermediary agents who act as the link between sellers and purchasers.

The creation of a Blockchain network eliminates the need for this intermediary, putting suppliers into contact with their customers, who play an active role during transactions to ensure the system remains sustainable. It also allows a track record to be created with unchanging, trustworthy information in real time about the operations being performed within the platform.

One of the highlights of how a Blockchain network operates is that all administration takes place over a private network. This means that users (tourist service suppliers and visitors) work solely within the network, and they do not have complete information about how it operates, unlike other public networks such as Bitcoin. Once a Blockchain network is set up, the administrators will create an electronic currency to perform transactions within the network (the government of Dubai uses an initiative linked to the value of the dirham).

Users who access the marketplace exchange real money for electronic currency (which can be done via an exchange portal or an automatic process) and then select their preferred tourist attraction. The transaction is validated via network validators (validator nodes) – in this case, the administrators. Finally, the tourism supplier receives the payment in electronic currency and can automatically exchange it for real money.

Tourism 2.0, launched during the 2018 World Government Summit, is part of the Dubai 10X project, an initiative by the city of Dubai that focuses on providing cutting-edge technological solutions to keep the city 10 years ahead of other cities around the world.