As several countries begin to ease lockdown and travel restrictions due to the recent pandemic, online travel agency behemoth Expedia and Travala.com have announced a partnership to facilitate crypto-based travel booking services.
Individually both Expedia and Travala.com are known for offering hotel booking and other travel services. Together they plan to ensure frictionless and hitch-free cryptocurrency travel and accommodation booking services.
Travala.com currently boasts of more than 2 million hotels in 230 countries worldwide. Now Expedia’s over 700,000 hotels and accommodations are available on the Travala.com website. This singular feat is made possible by Expedia’s versatile API, Rapid.
The partnership in detail
Users can now pay for trips and book accommodation with over 30 different cryptocurrencies on Travala.com website. Popular cryptocurrencies accepted include BTC, ETH, BNB and Travala.com native token AVA.
Speaking on the partnership, Senior VP at Expedia Group, Alfonso Paredes, pointed out that Expedia is well known for its passion for innovation. Adding that as a firm, they “recognize that booking and payment choice continues to evolve in a fast-changing world”. According to Paredes, the partnership with Travala is sure to skyrocket their business while also ensuring “partners like Travala.com build fantastic experiences for their travelers.”
CEO and Co-founder of Travala.com, Juan Otero, added that the partnership will ensure its users have seamless access to several payment choices. And not just payment choices, the partnership also ensures better accommodation choices and availability.
According to Travala’s data, people around the globe are ready to travel once again. There’s currently an 81% upswing in room nights booked and website traffic is also up by about 50%. Working with Expedia means Travala can now offer “unparalleled last-minute availability and fantastic rates and offers” through the recovery period.
In May 2020, Travala.com with support from top crypto exchange Binance merged with Travelbybit. Forming one of the largest blockchain and crypto-based travel agencies in the world.
About Expedia and Travala.com
Expedia Partner Solutions (EPS) is a world-renowned B2B partnership brand founded by the Expedia Group. EPS drives the business of top airlines, consumer brands, travel agencies, etc with its versatile API, online template solutions, and powerful agent tools. Expedia Group launched the famous EPS Rapid in 2018 providing access to competitive accommodation rates. EPS opened users to a portfolio of more than 700,000 properties in over 35,000 destinations.
Travala.com, on the other hand, was founded in 2017. Known as a top crypto-friendly hotel and accommodation booking service, it has over 2 million properties in 230 countries. The Travala.com ecosystem is further promoted by its native token AVA. Travala.com also recently partnered with popular crypto fintech platform Crypto.com.