The adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) is attracting many tourists to El Salvador. According to the Minister of Tourism, the country received 30% more visitors between November and December 2021. The adoption of the queen of cryptocurrencies is also helping to bring investors to the Central American country.
Adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) draws tourists to El Salvador
El Salvador is welcoming the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal currency. According to Morena Valdez, El Salvador’s Minister of Tourism, the implementation of the “Bitcoin Law” in September 2021 has given a boost to the tourism industry.
“We conducted a survey to measure the activity before and after the adoption of Bitcoin. The tourism industry increased in November and December. It increased by more than 30 percent,”
Morena Valdez assures in an interview relayed by local news agency El Salvador News English.
Faced with the health crisis, Salvadoran authorities did not expect to receive more than 1.1 million visitors over the period. Finally, 1.4 million tourists visited El Salvador between November and December 2021.
The minister assures that the adoption of cryptocurrency as a second legal tender has helped attract tourists who would never have considered a trip to El Salvador. Before the Bitcoin law, most tourists came from neighboring countries. Now, 60% of visitors are from the United States. This change is also reflected in the revenue of the tourism industry.
“We had expected $800,000 in foreign currency; but we got more than $1.4 million in foreign currency revenue,”
Morena Valdez points out.
Cryptocurrency, an asset to boost tourism?
In front of the Salvadoran press, the minister presents the queen of cryptocurrencies as a great asset for the tourism industry. According to Morena Valdez, the legislation born under the impetus of Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, also attracts investors from the digital currency sector.
“The implementation of Bitcoin has benefited the sector, more tourists and investors have come to see how the cryptocurrency works,”
says the tourism minister.
To attract investors to El Salvador, Nayib Bukele has put in place several significant measures in recent months. Most notably, the president has pledged to exempt foreign investors from taxes on profits made in Bitcoin. The leader also plans to offer citizenship to individuals who invest in the country.
Morena Valdez’s speech comes shortly after Nayib Bukele revealed that El Salvador’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 10.3 percent in 2021. Regularly the target of international criticism, the president is pulling out all the stops to defend decisions made last year, including the adoption of Bitcoin.
“Exports (the main driver of economic growth) increased by 13% in January, compared to January 2021. […] Incidentally, El Salvador never experienced double-digit GDP growth until 2021,” Nayib Bukele says on his Twitter account.
Inspired by El Salvador’s example, the Tourism Authority of Thailand is turning to cryptocurrencies to revive the industry, which has been at a standstill since the health measures against Covid-19. The agency hopes to attract crypto asset holders to Thailand by facilitating payments in cryptocurrencies. Despite regulatory hurdles, the Tourism Authority also has ambitions to launch its own stablecoin.
