Travala & AVA: Building a Global Crypto-Native Travel Ecosystem

Abstract

Travala is a global crypto-native travel booking platform with over 3,000,000 travel products bookable with more than 100 cryptocurrencies.

Travellers can book over 2.2 million hotels, flights with more than 600 airlines, and over 410,000 activities.

The AVA token is designed by Travala’s partner, the AVA Foundation, and powers the AVA Smart Program—the loyalty program available on Travala—to provide travellers up to 13% savings on every travel booking.

What Is Travala?

Travala is a global crypto-native travel booking platform that supports both cryptocurrency and traditional payment methods. The platform currently collaborates with well-known travel services such as Expedia, Skyscanner, KAYAK, Viator, and Google Hotels. The AVA Smart Program offers Bitcoin and AVA booking rewards, travel discounts, token airdrops, and more, with upsized benefits available to higher membership tiers and exclusive benefits to holders of the Travel Tiger NFT.

Strengths of Travala's Products

Founded in 2017, Travala has grown into a leading travel platform, offering over 2.2 million hotels, flights with 600+ airlines, and more than 410,000 travel activities in over 230 countries and regions around the world.

As a champion of crypto adoption, Travala has steadily made progress in supporting more cryptocurrencies on its platform. Currently, over 100 cryptocurrencies are supported, including BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, SOL, AVA, and many more. In 2024, the platform recorded over $100 million in gross yearly revenue. Travala also introduced its Treasury Reserve Plan in late 2024, which involves holding a portion of its treasury in Bitcoin and AVA.

AVA Smart Program

The AVA Smart Program enables travellers to activate benefits on Travala by locking AVA tokens. Perks vary by membership level and include discounts on travel products of up to 5%, up to 10% back in Bitcoin or AVA on every booking, and an additional up to 3% discount for booking in full with AVA. Members can also receive up to 20% of their locked AVA back in the AVA token as a quarterly bonus and receive the chance to participate in airdrops.

The highest tier of the AVA Smart Program, the Smart Diamond membership, is activated by locking 2,500 AVA and connecting a Travel Tiger NFT. This membership provides exclusive benefits including quarterly Travel Credit rewards, airport lounge access, entry into regular luxury travel giveaways, and more.

AVA Tokenomics

AVA is a utility token that has a total supply of 100 million tokens, with approximately 66.57 million currently in circulation. The AVA token mechanism was upgraded in 2023, with the token allocation now distributed as follows: 61.011% for Pre-upgrade AVA Supply, 19.494% for Ecosystem Incentives, 3.899% for Ecosystem Growth, and 7.798% each for the Community Pool and Foundation Reserve.

In addition to its utility within the AVA Smart Program and as a discounted booking method, the AVA token is used as a governance tool for the AVA community to vote on proposals using Community Pool funds. The number of AVA held by a community member represents their voting weight. Community members with Travel Tiger NFTs receive additional voting power.

Each month, the AVA Foundation’s AVA Buyback Program sees the Foundation purchase AVA tokens on the open market equivalent to the USD value of all the AVA giveback rewards distributed to Smart members for travel bookings completed in the previous month. The purchased tokens are stored in the Ecosystem Incentives Wallet to provide further incentives for Smart members. As Travala's business grows, the funds allocated for AVA buybacks are expected to increase, potentially supporting a steady, long-term rise in the value of AVA tokens.