El Salvador’s use of Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in September 2021 caused a significant increase not only in GDP, but also in the development of local tourism.
El Salvador’s tourism industry has grown more than 30% since the passage of the Bitcoin law in September 2021, according to Salvador’s Tourism Minister Morena Valdes.
“We conducted a survey to check the activity before and after Bitcoin. The tourism sector rose in November and December. It increased by more than 30%,” Valdez said in an interview with local news agency El Salvador News on Monday.
Valdez noted that the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador has also affected the flow of tourist visits, resulting in an increase in the number of tourists from the United States. Before the adoption of the bitcoin law, most visitors came from neighboring countries on the Central American isthmus. According to her, now 60% of tourists come from the United States.
The minister added that the growth of tourism in El Salvador exceeded the expectations of the government, reaching 1.4 million tourists instead of 1.1 million tourists.
“We estimated $800,000 in foreign currency, but we generated over $1.4 trillion in foreign currency income,” Valdez said.
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The news came shortly after El Salvador’s Vice President Bukele announced that El Salvador’s GDP grew by 10.3% in 2021. The country’s exports, the main driver of economic growth, also increased by 13% year-on-year in January 2022.
