Nayib Bukele says that the increase in tourism has been attributed to the adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender in the country.
Bukele stated that the tourism growth was due to the adoption of bitcoin, the promotion of surfing, and the reduction in the crime rate.
“Only a handful of countries have been able to recover their tourism to pre-pandemic levels. And that’s international tourism, so the reasons behind it are mostly bitcoin and surf.
But internal tourism is growing even more, mainly because of our crackdown on gangs.” he wrote on Twitter.
El Salvador was recently listed among the nations whose tourism revenues have reached pre-pandemic levels. The World Tourism Organization reports that El Salvador has increased its tourism-related revenue by 6% compared to 2019.
In February, Minister of Tourism Morena Valdez stated that there had been a spike in the tourism industry by 30% since bitcoin was accepted as a legal tender.
According to her, “El Salvador has become a good place to visit, invest and live. With the use of Bitcoin, tourism has increased by 30%.
Tourists interested in implementing Bitcoin have a longer stay and spend more. Before Bitcoin, there was a daily spend of $113 to $150; now it is up to $200 daily.”
Crime Reduction
The actions taken by the administration of Bukele to combat gang-related crime led to the detention of more than 9,000 people in April of last year, which drew harsh criticism.
However, Bukele asserts that this has accelerated the development of the country’s tourism sector.
Bukele also provided a link to the Google Mobility Report, a collection of statistics that illustrates changes in the frequency of trips to various locations.
According to the research, visits to parks, grocery stores, and pharmacies have all increased during the past three months.
El Salvador’s government looks forward to more bitcoin adoption.
The recent announcement by Bank Of The Future, a cryptocurrency investment platform, that it will be investing $6 billion in El Salvador was made by Milena Mayorga, El Salvador’s ambassador to the US.
More countries to follow suit.
More and more countries are adopting cryptocurrencies, which has worked as a charm for them.
Central African Republicans became the second country to accept bitcoin as a legal tender after EL Salvador.
And it is just a matter of time before more countries follow suit.
