Travala, an innovative crypto-native travel booking firm, has announced an integration with the Telegram Open Network that will allow holders of Toncoin (TON) to book airline tickets, hotels and travel tours with their tokens.

The booking company already supports payment through market giants such as Bitcoin (BTC), XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), Ether (ETH) and others. In total, Travala accepts 127 payment methods for travel booking. Upon announcement of the new integration, Travala CEO Juan Otero said.

“In continuing our commitment towards mass cryptocurrency adoption, we’re delighted to partner with Toncoin to champion the growth of the crypto community and bring a new real-world use case to TON.”

Blockchain in the travel industry: Novel use cases

As the travel industry seeks to acclimate to the digital age, new solutions are emerging from the blockchain and digital asset sectors to provide better customer experiences and greater financial efficiencies.

Related: Web3 travel gets real with on-chain hotel booking, NFT ticketing, more.

In 2023, Sleap, an artificial intellince (AI)-powered travel booking platform, announced its collaboration with the Camino network, a layer-1 blockchain solution for the airline industry.

The collaboration aims to craft personalized travel bookings for customers and deliver deals directly in-wallet, while simultaneously leveraging the Camino network’s architecture to create a universal messaging standard for hotels, airline companies and local tour guides.

More recently, in February, Japan Airlines announced the launch of the Kyoko nonfungible token (NFT) project. The NFT collection gives holders special access to unique Japanese travel experiences not listed with mainstream travel booking agencies and travel tour companies.

One of the NFTs allows holders to spend two days and one night in a historic Samurai mansion with a family of 400-year-old Samurai heritage. Another Kyoko NFT gives holders the opportunity to create and display artwork with Japanese light artist Yasuhiro Chida at the Tanegashima Space Art Festival. Holders of this NFT will also be able to share in the profits of the collaborative artwork.

Projects like GroundSync are also attempting to reduce costly airline delays by using blockchain to document every aspect of a commercial jet’s refueling and maintenance processes between flights. This would greatly reduce runway turnaround time and increase the profit margins eroded by communication redundancies and delays.

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