I have recently become interested in Bitcoin and it's potential to transform the travel industry. At my hostel, Pacific Tradewinds in San Francisco, we started excepting Bitcoin as payment and it's been a very interesting experiment so far. Unlike credit cards, there are no transaction fees associated with accepting Bitcoin. And, because Bitcoin is so new, it has exposed the hostel to a completely new clientele (mostly computer geeks and hackers). In addition, I have been contacted by journalists who are keen to learn more about businesses who are accepting this new currency.
Then today I read about a travel agency in Bulgaria called Simply Travel who is using Bitcoin to pay their accommodation providers in other countries. Immediately I began thinking about how Bitcoin could become a real game changer for the travel industry.
Gregor Amon, the CEO at Simply Travel:
“In the travel industry, we transfer a lot of money internationally. It’s less of an issue in Europe where a SEPA bank transfer is free and usually at the receiver’s account within 24 hours, but everything outside of Europe is a big pain,”
The complete article is located here.
For example, what if a traveler paid hostel A cash at the front desk in exchange for a voucher that entitles them to a free stay at hostel B. Hostel A then only needs to send Bitcoin to hostel B to transfer the money? What if this was all easily handled by the front desk software?
Anyone else out there considered accepting Bitcoin?
If you are not sure what Bitcoin is, watch this video.
11 years
Hello Darren
Idea seems pretty interesting and tourism industry is as you pointed out vulnerable for money exchange. We would be proud to give it a shot and support Bitcoin philosophy, only there should be at least minimal number of properties ready to do it.
domagoj
Day&Night hostel
Zagreb, Croatia
11 years
Bitcoin would help with international payments. The fees that are paid to move money in and out of US banks are crazy. The big thing that worries me about bitcoin, at least right now, is the volatility. Bitcoin is basically a commodity, rather than a currency, and as such is highly volatile. I read somewhere that in 2013 it's annualize volatility was 105%, compared to 5.5% for the US Dollar. Since it behaves more like a commodity, people will start hoarding it when it is valuable or not wanting it when it is not.
It will be interesting to see what happens as more mainstream businesses start accepting bitcoin. Maybe bitcoin is just the first step, alla Friendster and there is a more advanced "Facebook" virtual currency on the horizon.
11 years
Interesting idea... Maybe it could be tested with a few regional hostels.
Offering it as a payment option would at least let people know about alternative payment ideas.
11 years
What kind of legal issues would be involved with accepting bitcoin payments? By law my hostel can only accept payments in the local currency. Anything else is illegal because I can't issue a receipt in the local currency for (and pay taxes on) the money I received.
11 years
If a hostel can pay its bills in bitcoins, then fair enough but otherwise whats the point?
I'm sorry but BitCoin is one of the dumbest ideas I've seen in a while. It's as 'real' as accepting sea shells as payment is 'real' money.
11 years
I pay my programmers with Bitcoin. But I agree, if everyone wanted to pay in Bitcoin I would not be able to pay my suppliers. Yet. In any case, I'm not using Bitcoin primarily for Bitcoin's sake (although I would love to see it take off). I'm using it for the inherent marketing it provides.
11 years
In Roland Solenthaler’s presentation at the World Hostel Conference in New York he mentioned that he accepts gold coins in his hotel. Not because he thinks guests will actually pay with them, but because it's unusual and people will ask why? He can get a lot of free press from TV, radio, and print media just for being the only guy around claiming to accept gold coins and giving a little story behind it. TestGuy, it sounds like you want to use bitcoin in a similar fashion. Is that something like what you had in mind, or was your plan just simply to be an active part of something that people are talking about and ride the wave of popular interest?
11 years
Hi Brian,
Ooops! I was doing some work on the site and was apparently still logged in as TestGuy (using for testing). My apologies, I changed the authorship to me.
To answer your question, I initially decided to start accepting Bitcoin for 4 primary reasons:
1. I'm intrigued by the possibility of a currency that is not controlled by banks or governments (which some might argue are the same thing).
2. I like the ease of portability of Bitcoin. If I want to send Bitcoin to my friend in a restaurant or across the world, it's instantaneous. No more $30 wire transfer fees to the bank and waiting 2 days for it to "clear".
3. No fees like credit cards have.
4. No possibility of chargebacks. It's like a cash transaction that happens over the internet. If someone wants to make a reservation by Bitcoin I don't run the risk of a chargeback when I charge the card for a no-show.
The marketing benefit was a bit unexpected but welcomed.
Thanks
11 years
I have been interested in Bitcoin for a while and I was also thinking of accepting Bitcoin.
Do you accept it on your website Darren.
Also does price change in regards room rates.
Will a 20 dollar bed be always x bitcoins or is there a conversion you need to track.
11 years
The value of bitcoins is even less stable than traditional currencies, almost defeating its initial purpose. If it was convertable into local currency, I could see it's benefits, using it almost like a hawala system. But really the only things you can buy with them are IT services and illicit drugs - although the 'spice road' has been shut down now.
Any form of currency needs to reach a critical mass before it's even remotely useful and I really don't see bitcoin ever reaching that point.
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