R Collection Hotels Explains Why It Offers Guests an NFT Option
About a month ago, R Collection Hotels announced that it would begin offering a re-sellable, prepaid, non-refundable NFT rate. The NFT owner, will be able to enjoy personalized offers, discounts and freebies, access to exclusive events and other surprises. The rate can be re-sold until 11:59 pm on the day before check-in on the Takyon Travel Exchange at a price decided by the customer himself, indpendent of the initial purchase price. To learn more about why this prestigious Italian hotel chain is investing in the metaverse and NFTs, HT spoke with Ludovica Rocchi, Brand Director R Collection Hotels.
Why does R Collection Hotels believe NFTs are an important component to the future of the hotel industry?
At the beginning of this year, R Collection Hotels entered the metaverse via a collaboration with Takyon and with the sale of the first NFT (Non-Fungile Token) as a step towards the future of hospitality. We wanted to explore the potential of a new concept of VR Tourism that could potentially lead to many benefits. On April 15, the Group finalized the first sale of its first NFT on OpenSea, thus concretizing the active online presence of the R Collection Hotels Group in Web3, where it is possible to buy and exchange everything holistic and experiential.
Many guests book hotel stays through online booking platforms. The Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio, part of R Collection Hotels Group, decided to add an unprecedented booking platform to the more traditional ones, where you can choose to book a hotel in a real or virtual dimension using new payment tools, full of potential. Of course, R Collection Hotels Group is still exploring this strategy as a component to the future of the hotel industry. This is a new distribution channel with benefits that are tied directly to the exchangeability of the reservation within a community. It is just the beginning!
What customers do NFTs appeal to and why is R Collection targeting them?
This project was born from Takyon’s desire to create an innovative and decentralized booking platform that combines NFT and blockchain technology. With this latest step, the R Collection Hotels Group's strategy has taken place toward an expansion of its portfolio of activities and experiences, aiming to reach a segment of customers who are already moving into the new future and who are active in the metaverse. With Takyon, the customer purchases the right to a stay in an incredible way and when it happens in real life at the Grand Hotel Victoria di Menaggio, the unique experience becomes real and unforgettable.
Unlike all other platforms, this NFT also brings a sustainable approach as Takyon collaborates with U2Y to make this stay eco-friendly, guaranteeing the customer a carbon neutral stay. The concept of virtual infinite development also applies to environmental sustainability.
Can you explain in more detail R Collection Hotels' vision for NFT sales/redemptions on their properties and how they envision this new product will generate revenue and loyalty?
With Takyon, R Collection Hotels has started selling a two-night stay at beginning of the year for two people with dinner and spa experience for two at the Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio. Then, in October 2022, Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio is online with the first resalable, prepaid, non-refundable NFT rate. The resale rate proposed by Grande Hotel Victoria offers overnight stay, 'Good Morning on the Lake' breakfast, access to the ERRE SPA wellness area, covered parking (electric car charging station available for a fee), Wi-Fi, VAT and service. But the novelty of the rate concerns the fact that the reservation can be resold until 11:59 p.m. of the day before check-in on the Takyon Travel Exchange at a price decided directly by the customer himself and independently of the initial purchase price. The benefits of this formula also lie in the interchangeability of reservation within a community, not to mention that NFT-unlike all other classical modes-not only guarantees virtually infinite modes of development, but also solutions that move in the direction of environmental sustainability.