Hotels are under pressure to adopt digital identification solutions as they face new identity verification regulations in Europe. The new legal requirements that Spain’s hospitality sector faced in November can be difficult.
All hoteliers, including those who rent out homes, campsites, and cars, are required by the new Spanish law to provide information about their guests to the Ministry of the Interior. The data will include passport numbers, home addresses, payment methods, and other information collected for reasons of national security. The new law has raised questions about delays at check-ins, record-keeping and data privacy.
Experts agree: hotels should adopt digital identity solutions as soon as possible to enhance the guest experience. Hotels have relied on manual processes for verifying guest identities but these methods are outdated and cause friction, errors, and inefficiencies.
Nick Price, CEO at NetSys Technology said that hotels have historically treated identity validation as an afterthought.
Hotels still treat identity verification as a manual process—it’s slow, inefficient and prone to errors. He said that this must change, and that the alternative of using paper-based identification verification would be too cumbersome.
“If a new law is introduced, and hotels try manually to comply, they will create huge friction for staff and customers.”
Gillian Jones Senior Business Development Manager of Condatis says that hoteliers should start looking at ways to integrate digital identification systems with hotel IT systems.
“Hotels have incredibly complex IT estates—PMS [property management system]OTAs, booking engines and reservation systems [online travel agencies]. It is virtually impossible to standardize identities across all of these systems. “That’s where digital identification solutions come in,” said she.
Jones compared the situation of digital identity in Europe to GDPR, where some people were caught unawares by the data privacy regulation because it was not on their radar. She said that now is the time to plan for a digital integration.
Jones said that solutions such as Condatis Cenda can simplify this process. “Cenda acts both as an onramp and a gateway to decentralized identities.” It handles trust frameworks, compliance and onboarding—so hotels don’t have to.”
The European eIDAS 2 identity-wallet regulation could solve the privacy issues raised by these types laws. These digital identity wallets enable individuals to confirm identity throughout the European Union while still maintaining full data control. They only have to provide the information required at the point of transaction, and all data is encrypted.
In October last, the European Commission announced a new EU Digital Travel application, dedicated to travel identities, that EU and non EU citizens can use in conjunction with a passport biometric or EU identity card, when traveling to or leaving the Schengen Area.
“Travelers will have the ability to create digital travel credentials, and submit their plans and documents in advance to the border authority to speed up the border checks,” the Commission announced in its announcement. “The app requires user consent before it processes personal data.” Before being allowed access to the data, border officials will also be trained in data security and data protection laws.
While the app focuses primarily on border crossings it could also enable digital identification sharing at other points along the journey.
“EIDAS 2 has been designed to solve exactly this problem.” Price said that it allows guests to verify identity digitally with minimal friction. Price said that guests already use their phones to do everything: shop, bank, book flights. They expect the same level of convenience at hotels.”
Hotels must collect data from multiple systems, including the digital identity systems of the EU member states, which will eventually be adopted, and the international digital identity systems.
Roger Olivieira, founder of VerID, said that his startup could help by connecting to multiple EU digital ID wallets as well as other travel credentials.
“If you have ever paid online, then you know how easy it can be to select a method. We do the exact same thing with identity, allowing guests a seamless verification of their own identity,” he said.
Olivieira says that the paper-based process for identifying people is outdated. “Normally people just hand their passport over, someone copies it, and then they manually type in the information. “That’s just no longer necessary,” he said.
Hotels still treat identity verification as a manual process—it’s slow, inefficient and prone to errors. This must change.
Nick Price, NetSys Technology
Adoption is easy. “Hotels are able to integrate this in less than 30 minutes.” Olivieira stated that all you need is a mobile phone. Price believes that much of the identification verification process could start at booking.
“The more check-in processes you can move upstream—before the guest arrives—the more you can focus on guests who need extra attention,” he said.
Price sees digital identities as a way to improve service. Price said that by tapping on an NFC reader during check-in, guests could be checked in, payments handled, and a digital room key issued.
Jones encourages hotels to consult identity experts as early as possible. If you’re a Hilton, Marriott or other hotel chain, you don’t need to figure this out on your own. Experts in identity can guide you. “Use them,” she said. “Start now. Start your proof of concepts. Test and learn. Fail fast while you still have time to experiment—before you’re forced to respond to regulations and are already on the back foot.”
Price and Olivieira agree that service is more important than compliance. Olivieira stated that if hotels only view digital ID as a compliance matter, they are missing out on the larger opportunity: complete digitalization of the traveler’s experience. “A fully digital experience means guests can check in, customize their stay and access their room—all from their phone, with no friction.”
Price has a vision similar to hers. “Why do you need a receptionist? What is it used for today? Airbnb has shown you don’t require one,” he said. “Instead of being stuck behind a computer, hotel staff could actually focus on hospitality—welcoming guests, helping them and enhancing their stay.”
Jones sees the digital identity as a pivotal point. “We are not just digitizing ID validation. We’re rethinking how people prove who they are—securely, instantly and globally,” she said. “Hotels who act now will be in front of the competition. Those who wait will struggle to stay up.”
Hotels have an opportunity to turn compliance in a competitive advantage. By implementing solutions for digital identity today, they will be able to streamline operations, improve the guest experience, and future-proof their business.
It is inevitable that the hospitality industry will move to digital identity. Hoteliers need to decide if they want to lead or play catch-up. Experts agree that it’s now time to act.
“This isn’t the future—it’s already here. “The only question is, will businesses adapt to the new world or will they be left in the dust?” Olivieira said.
