Feb
El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption as legal cash in September 2021 has resulted in a significant increase not just in its GDP but also in local tourist growth.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele previously said that El Salvador’s GDP will grow by more than 10% in 2021.
According to Salvadoran Tourist Minister Morena Valdez, the tourism business in El Salvador has grown by more than 30% since the Bitcoin legislation was passed in September 2021.
“We conducted a survey to assess activities in relation to the before and after of Bitcoin.” In November and December, the tourist industry grew. “This grew by more than 30 percent,” Valdez stated in an interview with El Salvador News English on Monday.
El Salvador’s acceptance of Bitcoin, according to Valdez, has also influenced the flow of tourist trips, boosting the number of visitors from the United States. Prior to the adoption of the Bitcoin legislation, the bulk of tourists came from neighbouring Central American nations. According to her, as many as 60% of visitors now come from the United States.
El Salvador’s tourism boom has surpassed the government’s projections, hitting 1.4 million visitors rather than 1.1 million tourists, according to the ministry.
“We had budgeted $800,000 in foreign exchange, but we received more than $1,400 million in foreign currency revenue,” Valdez said.
The announcement comes soon after Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele claimed that the country’s GDP would grow by 10.3 percent in 2021. In January 2022, the country’s exports, a primary engine of economic development, surged 13 percent year on year.
