Travelers and tourists can now use crypto to book destinations across the globe.
Travala, a blockchain-based hotel booking platform, has partnered with online travel agency giant Booking.com to enable crypto payments at accommodations around the world, according to a press release.
Based in Amsterdam with more than 17,000 employees worldwide, Booking.com offers listings in over 90,000 destinations across 230 countries.
In addition to traditional currencies, Travala supports payments with its native utility token, AVA, and 20 other leading digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, BNB, Stellar and Cardano.
Travala says slightly more than half of their total bookings last month were paid via cryptocurrencies.
Says CEO Matt Luczynski,
“This partnership allows our users to access Booking.com’s accommodation listings, as well as the listings from several other leading travel suppliers, which is a fantastic use case for our own AVA token and another huge step towards mass cryptocurrency adoption.”
Founded in 2017, Travala has grown to become one of the largest online travel agencies in the world by number of bookable hotels. The booking agent’s customers can use AVA to access discounts and loyalty rewards.
The company highlights the new partnership as a major stepping stone for crypto and consumers who want to use BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC and other cryptocurrencies as everyday payment methods.
“Booking.com have recognized the value in making its vast portfolio of properties available to the growing blockchain and cryptocurrency markets. Such a move by Booking.com is a sign that we are close to seeing the industry’s acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a standard form of payment for travel bookings.”