Paul Muller, Leader of RAIN Reader Smartphone Integration at the RAIN Alliance
The United Nations’ World Tourism Barometer reported that approximately 300 million tourists travelled globally in Q1 2025; an increase of 5% on the same period in 2024. With summer now in swing for those in the Northern hemisphere, holidaymakers will be boarding planes in their droves, and the vast majority of these travelers will be doing so empowered by the smartphones in their pockets. Tools like digital plane tickets and translation apps have made international travel easier than ever, with more than 70% saying that they “always” use their smartphones when travelling, up from 41% in 2015.
The imminent integration of RAIN technology into smartphones will enable new functionality that can help make jetsetters’ journeys even smoother. Here are three examples of what the travel of tomorrow – enabled by having a RAIN reader in smartphones – may look like:
- Perfecting the packing process
Many of us have had the experience of packing our suitcase in a hurry and then spending the entire journey worrying that we forgot to add a specific item. In the near future, travelers will be able to use their RAIN-enabled smartphone to scan their case, look at the list of the RAIN-tagged items and check that everything for that important business trip or family beach holiday has been packed. Similarly, when checking out at each hotel on a multi-leg or multi-city trip, business travelers and jetsetters alike can use their smartphone to give peace of mind that they haven’t misplaced anything before heading to the airport.
Currently, the number of RAIN tagged items is limited, however the picture is evolving quickly. The incoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) regulations will require retailers operating within the European Union to provide accessible sustainability data on all their products. Apparel tagged with RAIN for DPP compliance will allow users to use the same tags for personal suitcase inventory.
- Managing medicine on the move
For those who take regular medication, travel can be extra stressful. Not only are these travelers tasked with making sure that their holiday essentials are packed, but they must also ensure they have the right documentation to travel with their medication and that they have enough supply to last the entire trip.
Having a RAIN reader in smartphones can help alleviate these stresses by allowing users to scan their medicine before they travel. Through their medication app, users could quickly and easily see how many doses they have left, if a new order needs to be made ahead of the trip and complete this request with their prescriber. Upon arriving at their destination, should documentation be required for any controlled medicines, this can also be provided on demand using RAIN-enabled smartphone scanning.
- End-to-end luggage tracking
Airlines like Delta already use RAIN technology to enable their customers to track their luggage at the airport, onto the plane and finally through to the luggage carousel at the other end. In recent years, luggage manufacturers have also been incorporating RAIN into the suitcases themselves with tags storing data that locks or unlocks the case and also holds passenger information to make check-ins and security checks smoother.
With the integration of RAIN in smartphones, the bag check process could start at home. Users could assign their suitcase to their flight details by scanning through the airline app, simplifying the bag drop process when arriving at the airport.
Have your say on the future of RAIN
With key decisions being made on the future of integrating a RAIN reader in smartphones, it is imperative that your voice is heard. This can help to influence the travel of tomorrow as well as other use cases for the technology. The RAIN Alliance enables organizations to improve traceability, effectiveness, and sustainability by simplifying, standardizing and accelerating the adoption of RAIN technology through global collaboration and innovation.
Join now to harness the power of RAIN and have your voice heard in our RAIN in Smartphones Working Group.