A New Chapter for Dtravel: Rebuilding Travel Around People

A note from Dtravel’s new CEO, Eric Pace

When I first joined Dtravel years ago, I saw a team that believed travel could be rebuilt around people rather than platforms. That belief hasn’t changed. But how we get there has.

The first chapter of Dtravel started with crypto payments and the vision of a community-owned alternative to Airbnb. It was an ambitious start, but if we’re honest, it still looked a lot like the thing we were trying to fix. The next chapter begins with a harder question: what would travel look like if it truly served the people who make it possible?

What’s Broken

Travel has lost its sense of ownership. 

The short-term rental industry has entered its institutional phase. What started as renting spare rooms is now a $140B+ global asset class.

Hosts feel trapped by platforms that take more than they give, and the extracted value results in higher prices for everyone.

Faced with ever-increasing fees, travelers are often compelled to chase the “best deals” instead of forming meaningful connections. They’re also sold loyalty programs with “free” perks that are actually funded by credit card fees and interest rates, which also extract value and increase travel prices for everyone.

Locally created value is exported to distant shareholders rather than being shared with communities.

As the online travel industry has scaled, it has become increasingly disconnected from the people who actually create its magic and give travel its soul.

That’s the problem we’re here to solve.

What We’re Building

We’re not trying to build another search engine or online travel agency. The industry doesn’t need more of those. We’re building a network that lets people own the value they create.

That means:

• Giving hospitality operators the tools to grow independently, not under a platform’s rules.
• Helping travelers build lasting relationships with the places and people they discover.
• Reinforcing the idea that loyalty is earned through trust and participation, not points and spend.
• Enabling everyone with the opportunity to invest in their local travel economy.

Across the world, we’re already seeing this spirit take shape: local networks of operators collaborating instead of competing, travelers choosing direct connections over algorithms. These early communities are showing us what the future of travel can look like when ownership becomes the foundation.

How We Can Align Incentives

For travel to work for the people who make it possible, we must align incentives.

The hotel industry has proven for decades that loyalty is the key to driving profit and demand at scale. Brands like Marriott and Hilton drive billions in annual revenue through their closed loyalty programs.

The short-term rental industry is now at a similar inflection point, but with one key difference: short-term rentals are fundamentally decentralized and community-driven. This means a closed, corporate loyalty program will never work at scale.

We believe the solution is an open rewards layer that meaningfully incentivizes behavior and community participation, rather than mere transactional benefits. This is how the short-term rental industry will grow beyond a platform-controlled system to a shared travel network.

TRVL is the coordination and loyalty asset that will incentivize thousands of localized micro-networks connected through a unified travel layer. It will align operators, travelers, and owners around shared success, enabling anyone to participate in the success of these local networks.

Why This Matters

Travel is one of humanity’s most basic expressions. It’s how we learn. How we connect. How we remember who we are. When ownership disappears, travel becomes a commodity. 

Recentering ownership restores meaning and purpose. It gives every participant a stake in the story they’re helping to create.

That’s what drives me, and it’s why I’ve stepped into the role of CEO to bring this vision to life at scale.

What’s Next

In the coming weeks, we will begin revealing the first pieces of this future. You’ll see us unveil new ways for travelers and operators to participate in Dtravel, starting with programs that reward real travel behavior, strengthen local networks, and reinforce community contributions.

We’ll also be piloting a new ownership model that hasn’t existed in the travel industry before, starting first in destinations that demonstrate the clearest alignment between local operators, community leadership, and Dtravel’s long-term vision. Our first initiative is underway in El Salvador and will serve as the foundation for everything that follows.

The future of travel won’t belong to platforms. It will belong to people: hosts, explorers, communities, and to anyone who believes travel should feel meaningful, connected, and human again.

If that vision speaks to you, stay close. This is a new chapter for Dtravel and the beginning of something bigger than us.

— Eric Pace

CEO, Dtravel