Bitcoin in the travel industry?

The internet Bitcoin is starting to reach certain milestones in terms of imposing its status as an official currency. As of last week, the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino and The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel have become the first to accept this currency.

This is an important achievement and some experts state that this may be only the beginning.

However, one of the biggest issues it faces is explaining its concept to the masses.

Given the last months of increasing publicity, the bitcoin has aroused certain interest from a rather large number of people.

After the concrete voicing of the idea of a “clear potential of growth” by the Bank of

America head of global rates and currencies research, in December, the bitcoin has started gaining more and more popularity.

By now, as of this year, bitcoin’s digtal pocket has reached the million users milestone on the digital wallet, Blockchain.

The online currency brings opportunity to the market, as it can solve some of the difficulties people might come across when handling their finance.

“While there’s no telling where the future of Bitcoin is headed, we want to be ahead of the trend so we’re able to adapt quickly as needed,” said Derek Stevens, co-owner of The D and Golden Gate. “We’re excited to be taking the first baby steps with Bitcoin by integrating the currency into several elements of the properties.”

Perhaps, the greatest feature of the Bitcoin is that no bank is controlling the exchanges, therefore there are no fees. This also means no restrictions concerning the exchange what so ever.

Given that no company owns the Bitcoin, it becomes a system people or companies can use in their advantage. Add the fact that it is an online type of currency and you can easily realize that the transfers are very fast.

Adding all this information into a single set of possible advantages has enabled business entrepreneurs like The D or Golden Gate to spot the opportunity of using this type of currency. This also represents a branching strategy, towards accessing this category of people who are more inclined towards new trends.

“Our guests who prefer to pay in Bitcoin will now be able to do so easily and conveniently,” said Stevens, the man behind the implementation of “Bitpay” inside the casinos due to the continuous requests from guests.

“Since Las Vegas is an international destination and our properties are in close proximity to the city’s tech hub, we attract niche customers who are interested in Bitcoin as not only a virtual currency, but as a currency without borders.”

The Bitcoin value is the responsibility of its users as no other financial coercion system intervenes in its fluctuations but the exchange between users.

The question arises for many: Is Bitcoin the next great thing in terms of financial back-ups or is it just a new vibe for some? The people who already chose to bring this to the travel industry believe in its future.

“We’ve gotten a very positive reception so far,”, “The day we announced, we had many guests requesting to pay in Bitcoin at the various locations. In response to the demand, we decided to begin accepting Bitcoin at our casual American restaurant, D Grill, as well.” - Stevens

“We’ve never seen anything like this before”, “It’s going to change the way we do things on the Internet.” - Levine