Dtravel processes the first travel booking on the blockchain

Worldwide: Dtravel, a decentralized short-term rental travel ecosystem, claims to have processed the world’s first hospitality booking on the blockchain using smart contract technology.

Smart contracts are publicly verifiable programs on the blockchain, which automatically perform actions based on predefined logic. Dtravel has implemented the technology to enable property managers and hosts to transact directly with guests without intermediaries via smart contracts, resulting in lower transaction costs, larger final payments and non-escrow payments.

To create a property listing on Dtravel, property managers and hosts set the booking terms – such as price per night, cleaning fee and cancellation policy – ​​in a smart contract unique to each listing.

When a guest places an order, the details of that order are cryptographically signed and included in the on-chain order transaction, along with the order payment. The transaction is then sent to the listing’s smart contract to be held in decentralized escrow and handled by the pre-defined rules of the smart contract.

Once the cancellation period is over, the smart contract will automatically release the funds to the host, provided the guest does not cancel within this period.

The historic smart contract powered direct booking milestone was made in London, England, at a property hosted by Amir, one of the first hosts in the UK to list his properties using Dtravel.

Amir, the owner of the property, said: “I am extremely passionate about giving my guests the best possible experience and love trying out new technology. Having the ability to pass on savings to guests through direct stays while gaining more control over my business without spending the time and resources to set up my own direct booking website immediately resonated with me.”

Dtravel recently launched its beta pilot program, which equips hosts with a direct booking site powered by web3 technology. Use a property management system [PMS]hosts can easily connect to Dtravel, distribute their listings and start accepting smart contract-enabled direct bookings in minutes.

Over the coming months, Dtravel says it will focus on reducing onboarding friction while working closely with hosts to optimize its direct booking product by adding new customization features and tools. In addition to building a direct booking tool that reduces a host’s reliance on third-party online travel agencies, Dtravel will soon create a guest-facing metasearch product, enabling guests to easily discover and book direct stays with hosts from around the world.

Dtravel is a web3 direct booking tool that has been developed to make it easier to rent holidays without intermediaries. Blends the freedom of direct booking sites with the simplicity of online travel agencies [OTAs]Dtravel seeks to offer greater ownership, lower fees and more control.

Developed by former executives of Airbnb, Expedia and other global technology companies, Dtravel aims to empower host businesses while making travel accessible, fair and transparent. Dtravel’s booking platform for home sharing went live in November last year.

Cynthia Huang, Head of Growth at Dtravel, appeared on ShortTermRentalz’ RockSTRz session on ‘Digital trust and safety: Combatting the evolving complexities of travel payment fraud’ last September – watch the full recording here.