{"id":58246,"date":"2022-02-22T17:43:15","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T15:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=58246"},"modified":"2025-09-04T15:49:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:49:41","slug":"el-salvador-links-tourism-boom-to-bitcoin-legalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/el-salvador-links-tourism-boom-to-bitcoin-legalization\/","title":{"rendered":"El Salvador links tourism boom to Bitcoin legalization"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After the adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment, the country\u2019s tourist flux rose by 30%, according to Tourism Minister Morena Vald\u00e9s.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Boom! \ud83d\udca5 \ud83d\udca5 \ud83d\udca5 <\/p>\n<p>El Salvador\u2019s tourism has grown by 30% since the Bitcoin Law<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/i8t6JRHD1a\">https:\/\/t.co\/i8t6JRHD1a<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ElSalvador?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ElSalvador<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BitcoinLaw?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BitcoinLaw<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/bitcoin?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#bitcoin<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/bitcoininvestment?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#bitcoininvestment<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Abtc?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Abtc<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/tourism?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#tourism<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BitcoinCity?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BitcoinCity<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/blockchain?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blockchain<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/investments?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#investments<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 M\u00f3nica Taher \u26a1\ufe0f\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfb (@monicataher) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/monicataher\/status\/1495973994306367490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 22, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The law legalising the first cryptocurrency <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/el-salvador-legalises-bitcoin-as-government-buys-550-btc\">took effect<\/a> on September 7, 2021.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;We conducted a survey to check activity before and after [the adoption] of Bitcoin. The tourism sector grew by more than 30% in November and December,&#8221; said Vald\u00e9s.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>According to her, the recovery in the sector exceeded expectations, as the country welcomed 1.4 million visitors against a forecast of 1.1 million.<\/p>\n<p>The introduction of cryptocurrency influenced the makeup of tourist flows. Whereas previously most tourists came from neighbouring Central American countries, now up to 60% come from the United States, the minister noted.<\/p>\n<p>She also pointed to a rise in tourism revenues:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;We planned $0.8 billion in foreign currencies, and received $1.4 billion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Earlier, President Nayib Bukele announced that El Salvador&#8217;s GDP grew by 10.3% in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Exports were the main driver, rising 13%.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">El Salvador\u2019s GDP grew 10.3% in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>And now its exports (a main driver of economic growth) grew 13% this January, compared to January 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Are we looking at another double digit GDP growth this year?<\/p>\n<p>By the way, El Salvador never had a double digit GDP growth before 2021. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/f9yMkPpLNJ\">https:\/\/t.co\/f9yMkPpLNJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Nayib Bukele \ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfb (@nayibbukele) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nayibbukele\/status\/1495126452030914562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 19, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The IMF has repeatedly criticised El Salvador&#8217;s move to legalise the cryptocurrency. In January, the organisation <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/imf-urges-el-salvador-to-drop-bitcoin-as-legal-tender\">recommended<\/a> that El Salvador strip Bitcoin of its status as legal tender.<\/p>\n<p>In August 2021, Moody\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moodys.com\/research\/Moodys-downgrades-El-Salvadors-rating-to-Caa1-maintains-negative-outlook--PR_450956\">\u043f\u043e\u043d\u0438\u0437\u0438\u043b\u043e<\/a> El Salvador\u2019s long-term foreign currency rating to Caa1 with a negative outlook. In early 2022, experts at the firm noted that <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/el-salvador-bitcoin-fund-buys-410-btc-amid-market-correction\">purchases<\/a> of Bitcoin by the government <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/moodys-criticises-salvadoran-governments-bitcoin-purchases\">continue to exert pressure<\/a> on the country\u2019s creditworthiness.<\/p>\n<p>However, El Salvador did not abandon <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/el-salvador-to-issue-1-billion-bitcoin-bonds-on-the-liquid-network\">plans to issue Bitcoin bonds<\/a> worth $1 billion in partnership with Blockstream and iFinex. The debt offering is expected to <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/el-salvador-to-issue-first-bitcoin-bonds-in-march\">take place in March<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After adopting Bitcoin as a payment method, tourist traffic to the country rose by 30%, according to Tourism Minister Morena Vald\u00e9s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1278,1598],"class_list":["post-58246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-el-salvador","tag-tourism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"22","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58248,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58246\/revisions\/58248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}