Not all of its locations, but the global hotel chain Holiday Inn will launch a pilot bitcoin program at its Brooklyn, New York venue. The announcement was made by Charlie Shrem, a founding member of the Bitcoin Foundation and facing indictment charges relating to Silk Road, at the Bitcoin Fair this past weekend.
Shrem will be in charge of the pilot project, which will take place at the Park Slope Holiday Inn Express location on Union Street in Brooklyn, a hub for tourists and foreign visitors. All of the bitcoin reservations can be done online, in-person or over the phone. If the project is a success then Holiday Inn could expand the payment option to other hotel locations.
Media reports cite Shrem as saying that the hotel primarily targets European tourists and they would enjoy fee savings and alleviating any chargeback risks. For instance, most credit cards charge 2.5 percent for currency exchange transactions.
If customers prefer the bitcoin experience then other hotels may follow suit in the future.
The BitInstant CEO had a brief discussion with NewsBTC and told the news outlet that Holiday Inn plans to maintain a small percentage of bitcoin – the percentages were not noted – but convert the rest into United States dollars so it can cover its operations and expenses.
Last week, it was announced that Expedia, the online travel website company, will be allowing its customers to pay with the peer-to-peer decentralized digital currency. This move made Expedia the very first major travel agency to offer the virtual currency as a method of payment. Expedia will partner with Coinbase to process the bitcoin payments and to instantly convert the bitcoins into dollars.
More and more businesses, merchants and retailers are entering the bitcoin fray. Expedia and now Holiday Inn join the likes of Overstock.com, Dish Network, Bloomberg News, REEDS Jewelers and the Sacramento Kings.
Who’s next?
