The first payment made with bitcoin remained in history: it was 2010 and It took 10,000 bitcoins to pay the equivalent of $41 which cost two pizzas in Jacksonville, Florida. In the Argentina branch of takeoff.comwhich is where it originated 23 years ago Unicorn specialized in tourism which today is present in 22 countries in the region, now also have a date related to these volatile currencies which are used outside of central bank regulations.
The date in question is March 3, which was Despegar Day has started accepting cryptocurrencies as part of payment. It is the first tourism agency in the country and the region to do so.
“On March 3, we launched the mode so that the customer can pay with cryptocurrencies. I don’t know if we completed any transactions that same day, but we turned on the system a month ago,” he said. Paula Cristiexecutive who has been general manager of the company for Argentina and Uruguay since 2020.
Formally, they became the first online travel agency in Latin America to offer its customers the ability to pay for travel products and services with cryptocurrencies. But Cristi stressed that at the moment it is a window with few transactions
“It’s one more alternative, what we are looking for is to offer all means of payment or the best means of payment available within the region. We launched the idea here in Argentina and the plan is to expand to the rest of the countries where we operate, provided we understand that this is a necessity, an opportunity”, added this executive, who joined Despegar at a very young age, 20 years ago, and immediately afterwards became an expert negotiator with the different airlines with which the company operates.
Despegar was founded by Argentinian Roberto Souviron, which registered it on August 3, 1999 in the state of Delaware, USA for tax purposes. In those 23 years it has grown into the leading online travel agency, with a few offices open to the public in some (not all) of the 22 countries in which it operates.
Some of this growth has been leveraged with the acquisition of other companies in the region such as Best Day, HotelDO, BDExperience, Viajes Falabella, Koin, ViajaNet and Stays.net. In the latest Wall Street report, ticket and hotel bookings totaled $1,100 million. It is still almost 20% below the pre-pandemic numbers of the end of 2019. “Brazil, Colombia and Mexico were the markets that recovered fastest. Here we are recovering, INDEC data are very good in hospitality tourism. They are needed both legs,” added Cristi.
-Does the dollar stock have anything to do with the decision to accept cryptocurrencies?
-No, it’s to offer as many alternatives as possible. We accept credit cards combined in the same payment, debit card, Rapipago and Easy Payment. In other words, we have several options. This is another alternative.
-Cryptocurrencies are not regulated by central banks and are usually linked to money laundering operations. How do they cover this possibility?
-We carry out all the necessary anti-fraud processes. And at the time of check out (payment) the customer does it on the Binance platform. Everything happens in the Binance “wallet”. They carry out the relevant validations, approvals and reports. And Despegar issues the invoice as with any other means of payment.
– Is the tourism sector ready to have more taxes than it already has?
-Regarding the new measures, we have no information. It’s something I’ve realized that has come out in the last few hours. If that were to happen, obviously the recovery would be a bit slower. I’d tell you that doesn’t solve the challenge we have regarding tourist entry, right? For us, incoming tourism is fundamental.
-How would you affect hospitality tourism?
-I think there may be a delay in the decision of some airlines to bet on Argentina compared to other countries. to increase the supply of places But I would like to be cautious, because it is not yet known whether there will actually be new measures.
Source: Clarin
