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We’re excited to share an update with our community regarding our product roadmap for the rest of the year and why we believe the best days for Dtravel are ahead of us. In 2022, success for Dtravel looks like the following:
Onboard more high-quality short-term rental listings
Power more on-chain bookings
Drive the utility of TRVL
Kickstarting a travel revolution by enabling hosts and guests to transact directly and at a fraction of the cost is no small feat. For Dtravel, this means validating problems to be solved for high-quality suppliers first, then tackling the demand side.
In the vacation rental industry, one of the best ways to onboard high-quality supply is by integrating with software that operators use to manage their businesses, such as property and channel management software providers.
By integrating with popular management platforms, hosts can easily onboard their listings to Dtravel and seamlessly join the web3 travel movement without disrupting existing business operations. For more information on the importance of these types of software, the benefits they offer and how they’re being integrated into Dtravel, please see our previous article on property management systems.
We’ve also partnered with several professional short-term rental property managers, each of which manage between dozens and hundreds of high-quality properties. By continuing to secure these types of partnerships, the supply can be expanded to meet the demand once Dtravel v2 is ready for launch.
On-chain bookings will create a better, fairer and more efficient booking experience for both hosts and guests. With all payments being automated via smart contracts using non-custodial wallets, funds are held in escrow until the cancellation period ends. At no point in the payment process does Dtravel have the ability to access these funds.
Without an intermediary present in the payment process, hosts are empowered to have true ownership of their funds and greater certainty over their earnings. Guests benefit from on-chain bookings by paying lower fees (since the process is entirely automated) and having access to a wider variety of payment options.
On-chain bookings also present several new and interesting challenges to tackle. The most prominent of these is the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions, whereby smart contracts will be implemented to encode solutions for various contingencies and protect both hosts and guests in the event that things don’t go as planned.
Another key challenge is the user experience associated with non-custodial wallets and blockchain technology in general, which has been notoriously difficult to simplify. By leaning on the talents of seasoned product designers and creating easy-to-follow educational resources, Dtravel aims to deliver a product that can be used as simply by mainstream users as it can by crypto natives.
While the initial focus is more on solving supply-side problems, there is still the need to understand the demand-side (i.e. guests) so that true product-market fit can be determined. This will help hosts maximize their businesses and generate more bookings while ultimately providing guests with a better booking experience.
To achieve this, a deep understanding of the quantitative and qualitative data behind the booking funnel will be required. For us to better understand the drivers behind bookings, we’ll be conducting guest research within our community as well as externally to discover what guest needs could be solved with web3 native solutions.
The TRVL token powers the Dtravel ecosystem by representing membership and incentivizing travel bookings, loyalty rewards and governance participation. As the native token of Dtravel, TRVL redesigns the travel experience by making it more inclusive, democratic and rewarding within web3 ecosystems.
While the goal of TRVL is to be the ultimate travel token, it has to begin with an initial focal point — and that point is Dtravel. With several use cases already outlined and being worked on, Dtravel will be the first significant project to contribute to realizing the ambitious future of TRVL.
Dtravel isn’t just a key use case for TRVL — it’s also an innovation ground for the token. There’s no rulebook for web3, and with experimentation in the space at an all-time high, there’s significant opportunity to create novel use cases within the Dtravel ecosystem to drive real-world utility, which may transcend Dtravel as the token evolves.
Dedicated to genuinely redefining what it means to be part of a global travel community, Dtravel can realize this goal by harnessing the technology underpinning TRVL to create a community-owned and governed ecosystem for a fairer, transparent and more rewarding experience for all members.
The three high-level goals above are critical to Dtravel’s success. By specifying and defining them, these goals will assist the team in evaluating the backlog of ideas to focus on the initiatives that will have the biggest impact on each of the goals and, by extension, on Dtravel.
Without further ado, here’s a summary of our roadmap for 2022:
Host Beta Program - working with a cohort of select hosts to iterate design, processes and ideas.
Discord community - building an engaged community comprising hosts and early adopters, as well as sharing concepts and resources for feedback.
Smart contracts - developing smart contracts for on-chain bookings is a significant undertaking that is already underway.
PMS partnership - we’ve secured our first partnership with an industry leading PMS/channel management provider and are working on the integration.
Dtravel v2 - the pilot program will enable hosts to list their properties on Dtravel and drive on-chain bookings.
Public API - developing a public API will fast track additional integrations to onboard more host properties.
Guest research - we’ll be launching a Guest Beta Program to seek feedback from travelers who express interest in being involved.
Guest discovery portal - allow guests to navigate on-chain properties around the world from a single starting point.
Dtravel v2 optimizations - add support for additional blockchain networks, wallet-to-wallet messaging, reviews, custom subdomains for Dtravel listings, and more.
Host referral program - earn TRVL for referring hosts to Dtravel.
Guest referral program - earn TRVL for referring guests to Dtravel.
More integrations - integrate with more PMS and channel management providers to increase the ease of onboarding and managing Dtravel listings for more hosts.
On-chain booking widget - enable third-party travel agencies to use the Dtravel check-out flow and smart contract for their bookings.
Loyalty program - reward community members for positive web3 travel behavior.
Trustless travel - leverage blockchain technology to bring more legitimization, security and zero-knowledge credentialing to peer-to-peer ecosystems.
This roadmap is based on the knowledge we have today. As new information emerges and web3 technology continues to evolve, we’ll be tracking and assessing how well these goals are helping us achieve our long-term vision and goals, and what other approaches we could implement to get us there faster and/or at a higher standard.
Though our ‘how’ might change by re-evaluating, redefining and reprioritizing our goals, our ‘why’ will always remain the same — to create a community-owned and operated travel ecosystem that empowers all members.
Have ideas you’d like to see us consider? Join our Discord and let us know!
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