Despegar Takes the Lead as the First LATAM Travel Agency to Adopt Crypto Payments

Despegar, one of the leading travel agencies in Latin America, has partnered with Binance Pay and Inswitch to accept cryptocurrency payments for tour packages.

This partnership makes Despegar the first online travel agency in the region to accept digital assets as payment. Initially, the option will only be available to customers in Argentina, but it may extend to other South American countries in the future.

Customers can use over 70 cryptocurrencies to pay for their trips, including Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Ripple.

According to Paula Cristi, the General Manager of Despegar for Argentina and Uruguay, the company recognized the potential of the cryptocurrency industry and wants to make it more accessible to its clients. She added that they are proud to provide new payment options to help people achieve their travel dreams.

Maximiliano Hinz, Binance Director for Latam Southern Cone, believes that cryptocurrency’s main use case is facilitating payments and that adoption has a lot of potentials to grow.

He views the partnership between Despegar and Binance Pay as an important step that could encourage the widespread adoption of digital assets.

The payment method is supported by Inswitch, a global financial technology company responsible for converting digital currencies to fiat.

Ronald Alvarenga, the CEO of Inswitch, said that the partnership fulfills their commitment to democratize the payment industry and allow Despegar clients to have one more payment method when embracing the world of cryptocurrencies.

Despegar has over 4,500 employees and operates in more than 20 countries in Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay.

Other global hotel chains like The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts, Chedi Andermatt, Novotel Bahrain Al Dana Resort, W Dubai – The Palm, and Palazzo Versace Dubai have already started accepting cryptocurrencies for payment.