El Salvador has pointed to the adoption of “bitcoin” as one of the reasons the local tourism industry could quickly recover.
“The rapid growth of the tourism industry is related to surfing, bitcoin, overall crime reduction, and three things,” El Salvador President Naib Buquelle said Friday, according to Bitcoin.com.
Data from the World Tourism Organization showed El Salvador was among 15 countries that have raised tourism revenue to pre-fandemic levels; tourism revenue in El Salvador rose 6 percent from 2019.
El Salvador adopted bitcoin as the world’s first legal currency in September last year and bought bitcoin in large quantities. We have bought bitcoin several times until the market plunged at the end of June, and are looking for ways to support bitcoin in various fields such as issuing bonds and creating cities.
President Naibukele, who led the strategy of adopting bitcoin, said, “Only a few countries have been able to restore the tourism industry to the level before Pandemic.”
In February, Tourism Minister Morena Valdez also announced that the tourism industry has grown by 30% since the adoption of Bitcoin.
The local crime rate and murder rate, which has plummeted since 2020, were also cited as the main reasons for the revival of the tourism industry. President Buckele claimed that the country’s crackdown on gangs has increased domestic tourism. “In the past three months, there have been a lot of people looking for stores, resorts, grocery stores, pharmacies and parks,” the Google Mobility Index, which shows changes in the number of visits to specific places.
The El Salvador government believes that the adoption of bitcoin not only raised the level of interest in the country, but also has a positive impact on attracting additional industries and inflows of overseas investment.
Earlier, Ambassador to El Salvador, Milena Mayora, delivered a $60bn investment plan for El Salvador by Bank Of The Future, a cryptocurrency investment platform.
“El Salvador recognizes bitcoin as legal currency and plays a role as a test site for implementing technologies such as bitcoin lighting,” said BitFinex, an official blog on the US cryptocurrency exchange last month. “We donate 36 BTC and 600,000 USDT to support SMEs and communities in El Salvador.”