Morena Valdez, the Tourism Minister of El Salvador, has said that the tourism industry in El Salvador has surged more than 30% since the adoption of the Bitcoin law in September 2021.
She said:
“We did a poll to check the activity according to the before and after of Bitcoin. The tourism sector increased in November and December. This increased by more than 30%.”
It has been reported that Valdez noted that El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption has also impacted the flow of tourist visits, increasing the number of tourists coming from the United States. Prior to the Bitcoin law enactment, the majority of visitors were coming from neighboring countries in the Central American isthmus.
However, she said that as many as 60% of tourists come from the United States. El Salvador’s tourism growth has exceeded the government’s expectations, reaching 1.4 million visitors instead of 1.1 million tourists.
Valdez added:
“We had projected $800,000 in foreign exchange but we obtained more than $1,400 million of income in foreign currency.”
Thus, the news comes shortly after Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced that El Salvador’s GDP grew 10.3% in 2021. The country’s exports, a major driver of economic growth, have also increased 13% year-over-year in January 2022.
Source: Cointelegraph