Travala’s token up 30% on partnership with hotel booking giant Expedia

Travala.com, a Binance-backed booking platform that allows its customers to pay for hotels with cryptocurrencies, has announced a partnership with the world’s second-largest online travel agency Expedia—adding over 700,000 new hotels to its crypto-friendly portfolio.

The deal will enable Travala.com customers to book Expedia Group hotels and accommodations using 30 forms of cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin and Travala.com’s native crypto, AVA. It leverages Expedia Partner Solutions’ API, Rapid.

Expedia first began accepting Bitcoin back in 2014 but removed it as a payment option in June 2018.

“Their booking flow isn’t built for [crypto] like ours. It was a bit of a nightmare for them to accept Bitcoin payments… Working with Expedia means we can drive traveler loyalty throughout the [coronavirus] recovery period,” Juan Otero, the CEO of Travala.com, reportedly told CoinDesk.

Travala’s AVA token surges 30%

On the heels of today’s announcement, the price of Travala.com’s own token, AVA, saw a sharp increase of around 30%. AVA is currently trading at roughly $0.39 per token, according to CoinMarketCap.

“At EPS we are passionate about innovation and recognize that booking and payment choice continues to evolve in a fast-changing world,” added Alfonso Paredes, the senior vice president at Expedia Group. “Our aim is to support Travala.com to scale their business faster than ever before.”

As Decrypt reported previously, Travala.com announced a strategic partnership with major online travel agency Booking.com last November.