Blockchain travel service to offer hotels 20% less than Booking.com or AirBnb

The Europe-based company LockTrip wants to put the hotel industry on the blockchain by creating "the first functional blockchain-based travel service". The team claims that it already offers 100,000 hotels and over 1,500 holiday homes worldwide, with an average discount of almost 20 percent compared to other booking sites – and with the intention of adding another 300,000 hotels and 900 airlines to its market by the end of January 2019.

Travel booking with smart contract

Reservations with zero commissions can be booked directly through the existing LockTrip beta market. To make the booking process easier for users who are not familiar with blockchain, the startup has created a service model that allows an instant connection between credit cards and the LOC ERC-20 token of the & rsquo; company. Travelers who are not crypto-oriented can make reservations using a credit card in the same way as they are on any normal travel site, and the exchange of crypto will be performed automatically via an API connectivity with exchanges in which LOC is negotiated.

Each reservation is blocked in an intelligent contract until checkout. The company claims that booking through their market is much cheaper and safer for guests than traditional ways of making reservations, where the customer is in danger of not getting the service that has already been paid.

In addition to the web-based travel market, LockTrip has already launched its mobile app for Android and iOS. The startup is also working on the creation of its hybrid pole test block (PoS) for which they have already implemented an operational testnet. The LockTrip PoS blockchain would embody the best of Bitcoin and Ethereum. The company hopes to build a platform that can support the Ethereum apps and achieve even more transactions per second.

Zero commission as a key factor

LockTrip defines itself as an enthusiastic team that wants to change the economy of the travel retail sector. The company's CEO Nikola Alexandrov comments:

"In both cases, users end up staying in the same hotel, regardless of which site they booked it in. Paying 20% ​​in addition to an expensive budget just for a few clicks will soon be a thing of the past."

According to the report published by the company, the current average price of hotels on the LockTrip market is about 20 percent lower than the cheaper alternatives users can find online. LockTrip says the service helps users save up to 17 percent when booking hotels in Europe and over 23 percent in the United States. LockTrip detects that the most popular websites such as Airbnb or Booking.com charge hotels with a 15-30% commission, which subsequently affects the final guest price.

According to the company's report, in 2018 the number of bookings with LockTrip increased more than 10 times and the volume of bookings at the end of the year (Q4) increased by more than 152 percent. During this period there were 40,000 euros of LOC purchased from the bags for utility purposes. "This makes LOC one of the most widespread token utilities in the industry," says the startup.

LockTrip promises to continue to develop its market by looking for and connecting with partners that can provide competitive prices for housing. Currently, the start is working to increase the size of its market four times. The company has announced the integration of another 300,000 hotels with even lower prices. In addition, LockTrip says it is also working in the international air travel service, with the support of 900 airlines. The startup plans to offer its users a commission of zero percent for the new service, which will make prices cheaper than those offered by competitors. The distribution of the inventory is scheduled for mid-January 2019.

In December 2018, the company announced the launch of its affiliate program to encourage owners of travel websites, bloggers and YouTube travelers to create an account and share a referral link. After completing the integration of 300,000 hotels and 900 airlines, the company plans to officially switch from beta to ready for retail and focus on marketing its services to travelers interested in reducing housing costs .