13. The Decentralization of Romanian Tourism Through Blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens: A Case Study on Stramosi NFTs

The tourism and hospitality sector urgently needs digital technologies that will lead to efficiency enhancement, lower costs, and greater transparency. Blockchain and NFTs can significantly benefit the tourism industry, leading to increased competitive advantage, improved customer satisfaction, and improved performance. This new technology has the ability to reform the tourism industry because they enable the decentralization of activities, eliminates mediators, and provides a trustworthy platform that connects tourists and companies. This paper aims to analyze the potential that NFTs and blockchain can have in revolutionizing the Romanian tourism industry. We consider the case of Stramosi, the first Romanian NFT project inspired by Romania’s colorful mythology minted on MultiversX blockchain, a secure, scalable, and fast blockchain platform. We focus on the particularities of Romanian tourism, its current challenges, and how decentralization through blockchain and NFTs can boost Romanian tourism and set the track for a sustainable long-term tourism strategy. An in-depth analysis of the benefits and possible limitations of the technology has been carried out. The results of the analysis provide new insights into the potential of NFTs and blockchain technology in transforming the Romanian tourism and hospitality sector.