Key Insights from the EU Digital ID Wallet Trial

Europe’s digital identity transformation has reached a pivotal moment. The EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium (EWC) has completed its pilot programme, and two new large-scale trials have begun—reshaping how travellers verify their identities across borders, hotels, airlines, ferries and digital services.

For the hospitality sector, long weighed down by manual passport checks and increasingly complex regulations, the results offer both relief and urgent direction. During the latest Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) Hospitality & Travel SIG meeting, industry leaders and pilot participants reviewed findings from the EWC pilot and explored how the upcoming EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet could simplify travel.

Their message was clear: digital identity can dramatically streamline journeys and ease operational burdens, but key standardisation gaps must still be resolved.

A century of identity shifts makes way for EUDI Wallet
The session traced the evolution of identity over 100 years, showing rapid progress in the digital era. The EUDI Wallet represents the next leap—a secure, government-issued digital container that can store verified credentials such as passports, driving licences, payments and personal attributes. Identity checks in regulated markets like hotels and airlines have now surpassed border checks, making these industries central to digital identity adoption.

Hotel identity checks grew from 2.8 billion in 2015 to 3 billion in 2025, while airline checks rose from 0.9 billion to 1.1 billion. Border checks declined slightly to 1.25 billion. Digital identity therefore offers the largest efficiency gains where verification volume is highest: hospitality and aviation.

Real-world tests across Europe
The EWC pilot, one of four EU-funded Large Scale Projects, ran from 2023 to 2025 across 24 countries with more than 550 participating companies and public bodies. Hospitality emerged as a key use case, with real guests performing real transactions in hotels.

Spain became a critical test environment due to Royal Decree 933/2021, which requires hotels to collect 42 pieces of guest data—creating significant operational strain. The EUDI Wallet automated this data transfer in pilot tests, reducing 20-minute check-in queues to seconds.

However, existing digital credentials such as PID and DTC Type 1 do not meet hotel or airline needs. The pilot instead used ISO-standard PhotoID, which supports passport-level attributes and selective disclosure.

Airlines ahead of hotels—thanks to IATA
Airlines are progressing more quickly than hotels due to strong guidance from IATA, which drives architecture, standards and lobbying. Biometric boarding prototypes are already underway, and IATA’s 2025 Global Passenger Survey shows strong consumer appetite for digital identity:

• 78% want a smartphone-based ID and travel wallet
• 74% would share biometrics to skip queues
• Digital wallet usage rose from 20% to 28% in one year

Hotels lack a similar unified voice, slowing adoption.

Looking ahead: new pilots, new opportunities
Two new EU pilots began in 2025—APTITUDE and WE BUILD—and are seeking hospitality partners, though funding allocations have already been set. Hotels joining now must do so as associated partners but can still influence emerging standards.

Experts emphasised three essential elements missing from Europe’s digital identity framework:
• Access control credentials (rooms, lounges)
• Reservation credentials tied to identity
• Preference/profile data managed privately

Without these, hotels risk falling behind airlines again.

The next decade of European digital identity rules is being written now—and the travel industry’s participation will determine how seamless future travel becomes.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com

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Key Insights from the EU Digital ID Wallet Trial

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