The Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) has officially launched its Hospitality & Travel Working Group, evolving from the ongoing H&T Special Interest Group (SIG). This new working group will focus on developing standards, schemas, processes, and documentation to support the self-sovereign exchange of data between travelers, services, intermediaries in the hospitality and travel industry, and their AI agents.
Mission and Focus
The primary goal of the working group is to enable travelers to maintain ownership and control over their personal data while allowing for seamless interactions with travel service providers. The group will address critical aspects of traveler profiles, focusing on data portability, privacy, and interoperability across the travel ecosystem.
Meeting Schedule
The working group will convene twice weekly:
- Tuesdays at 10:00 AM Eastern Time
- Fridays at 10:00 AM Eastern Time
These regular meetings will facilitate ongoing collaboration among industry stakeholders, technology providers, and standards bodies.
Leadership Perspectives
"We are enormously proud that the hard work of our dedicated Hospitality & Travel SIG has led to a Working Group that will develop key specifications. From sharing boarding passes and hotel preferences to loyalty programs and dietary requirements, travelers constantly provide the same information to different companies throughout their journey.
"Travelers need to share, and overshare, the broadest range of personal data on their voyage, ranging from seat or dietary preferences, to government identities or passports, across multiple service providers who may not have the best data handling practices. This working group will develop standards that allow travelers to control exactly what data they share, with whom, and for how long - eliminating both unnecessary data exposure and the frustration of repeatedly entering the same information," said Kim Hamilton Duffy, Executive Director of the DIF.
Douglas Rice, industry veteran and Hospitality & Travel Working Group chair added: "The travel ecosystem has long struggled with fragmented approaches to customer data and identity management. This working group will help establish the technical foundations needed for travelers to maintain control of their data while enabling the personalized experiences they expect. We're building toward a future where your travel preferences, loyalty information, and credentials can move with you seamlessly across your journey—all while maintaining the highest standards of privacy and security, and enabling AI agents to act on verified information about the traveler.”
Next Steps
The working group will initially focus on defining standardized schemas for travelers or their digital agents to present profiles, establishing protocols for secure data exchange, and developing guidelines for implementation across various travel touchpoints. Industry participants are encouraged to join the working group to contribute their expertise and perspectives.
For more information about participating in the DIF Hospitality & Travel Working Group, visit the Decentralized Identity Foundation website.