UK: Blockchain-based travel booking platform Travala has announced it has added more than one million holiday homes in 195 countries to its site.
Claiming to be a leading “crypto-friendly” booking platform, Travala allows its users to book holiday homes using more than 30 kinds of cryptocurrency [including bitcoin [BTC], ethereum [ETH], binance coin [BNB] and AVA], alongside traditional payment options like credit and debit cards.
The homes will be located in more than 80,000 destinations around the world, and are already available for booking on the Travala website and its app.
In a blog post, the firm, founded in 2017, said it had added the new homes as a result of growing demand for alternative accommodation for domestic staycations.
Travala CEO Juan Otero said: “Travala.com now offers over three million travel products bookable with cryptocurrencies and is truly emerging as the world’s next OTA version 3.0. Also, demand for non-hotel accommodation is growing fast so the launch of Homes couldn’t come at a better time.”
Research published by Grand View Research suggests that the global vacation rental market was worth an estimated 87.09 billion in 2019, and on the current trajectory, it will grow by a compound annual growth rate [CAGR] of 3.4 per cent from 2020 to 2027. It is not clear how these figures will be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A report by TurnKey Vacation Rentals indicates that millennials are the most likely demographic to drive this phenomenon, with 65 per cent of millennial travellers surveyed ranking cost as the most important factor in choosing a vacation rental. The report intimates that they will also account for 75 per cent of consumers and travellers over the next five years.
Travala therefore believes it is leading the way with the relatively nascent trend of cryptocurrency, this time when booking accommodation.
It has just partnered with online travel agency and metasearch engine, Agoda, to facilitate cryptocurrency payment on its platform too, providing Travala customers with access to more than 600,000 Agoda hotels that are bookable on its platform. In doing so, Travala has passed the 2.2 million mark for properties offered on its site.
[Image credit – https://immediate.net/ ]
