El Salvador claim bitcoin attracts tourists right or wrong?

[Accardo]

Recently El Salvador confirmed bitcoin magnets tourists to the nation. Claims bitcoin attracted 1.1 million visitors in 6 month was opposed by the wall street journal, saying most visitors never used bitcoin in the bitcoin beach and other stores that accepted bitcoin in the country. Given an example of a small bohemian hotel “Lagarza" owned by Daniel García, who confirmed only 15 bitcoin transaction since it became a legal tender in the country.

He went further saying that most visitors in the country paid with bitcoin to brag, though, it was made known in the article that, some vendors in El Salvador don't have a bitcoin wallet. And the country need to teach citizens how to transact with bitcoin to enable swift transaction.

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin? So I think the wall street journal article covered a small part of El Salvador hotels.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/06/el-salvador-bitcoin-beach/ (Proves visitors don't use bitcoin)


https://www.google.com/amp/s/cointelegraph.com/news/tourists-flock-to-el-salvador-despite-bitcoin-bear-market/amp (Proves traders use bitcoin)

[Yogee]

Recently El Salvador confirmed bitcoin magnets tourists to the nation. Claims bitcoin attracted 1.1 million visitors in 6 month

When did they claim this? I cannot find any direct statement in the Cointelegraph article that the inlux of tourists was because of bitcoin becoming a legal tender in the country. Can you quote that part in the washingtonpost article if they said it there. I couldn't open it.

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin?

Beaches? Search top destination in Central America and El Salvador is included in some blogs. Tourism is already a huge part of their economy prior to the adoption of bitcoin so claims that people went there because it's crypto friendly sounds overreaching. Cointelegraph couldn't provide data that thousands of bitcoiners visited since the country adopted bitcoin.

[kryptqnick]

I can see that El Salvador claims they got way more tourists this year than last year (a total of 1.1 million tourists in 6 months versus a total of 1.2 million tourists last year). The article on Cointelegraph says 'last year' but also refers to it as 2019, which must be some sort of mistake.
Needless to say, if 1.1 million is a total figure, it certainly can't all be attributed to Bitcoin (and from what I've seen, it's not). And if last year is 2021 (not 2019), then the increase can be easily attributed to relaxation of covid policies. In 2019, El Salvador had 2.64 million tourists. It doesn't seem like this year will beat that, even.

[Coyster]

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin? So I think the wall street journal article covered a small part of El Salvador hotels.

I don't think El Salvador have invested in bitcoin to attract tourists, if you want to attract tourists i guess it is your enviroment you must work on and beautify; and tbh i don't know how Bitcoin can possibly attract tourists to a particular country, popular tourist/most visited countries like France, Spain, USA etc, have zero or no affiliation with Bitcoin, especially in the aspect of it being a legal tender, yet millions of people go there every year. Having said that, the people that visit El Salvador do it for other reasons than Bitcoin, Bitcoin isn't widely accepted but there are one or two places one can spend them in their own country instead of travelling to El Salvador to do so. El Salvador have invested in Bitcoin so they can prolly make ROI in the long run.

[DaveF]

I can see it increasing tourism for people who use / like BTC and want to go to a location that promotes / supports / uses it.

If I was someone who wanted to go someplace in Central America for a beach holiday for a week during the winter here I could see the fact that outside of the flights I could 'live on BTC' there it would influence my travel decision.

The true numbers are going to be hard to figure for a while because of the pandemic lock-downs and travel restrictions tourism numbers are all distorted vs previous years.

-Dave

[xSkylarx]

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin? So I think the wall street journal article covered a small part of El Salvador hotels.  

Bitcoin did really make El Salvador a popular country but that is not the only reason why tourists are going on that country. According to the link below, their country has many beaches, volcanoes, and historical ruins that are worth visiting. Tourists would enjoy their trip there since it is less crowded compared to other neighboring countries.

https://www.airtransat.com/experiencetransat/10-reasons-visit-el-salvador/

[Solosanz]

Their statistic are useless since they only record how many tourists visit El Salvador alone, they need to have recorded the whole store of how much the Bitcoin was used since all the businessman getting forced to implemented Bitcoin as an alternative payment. If there's many Bitcoin transaction on El Salvador, we can say many people were using Bitcoin, but if not then there's no relation between tourists and Bitcoin.

AFAIK Bitcoin usage in El Salvador are quite high around 10% from all the citizens, I think Bitcoin may attract tourists but not significant.

[amishmanish]

Yes bitcoiners are great tourists as well. While many nations have banned Bitcoin and there are hefty taxes on Bitcoin earning. Such  nationals need a safe heaven. El Salvador has given them that option. If Swiss banks can be the fiat heaven El Salvador is Bitcoin heaven and will reap benifits for the same.
.

[Wiwo]

I think we are judging too soon, if we want to give statistics on tourism in El Salvador we must also not forget to put the pandemic and timing into consideration, is nearly a year since El Salvador adopted Bitcoin and the level of awareness is still low within the citizens, so Bitcoin usage in El Salvador will still be low. But then if you have been following up with the El Salvador Bitcoin adoption thread you will find quite a lot of information and statistics on records on Bitcoin adoption and El Salvador Bitcoin city and other government agencies just like the beach that aid the tourism industry in El Salvador.
Check this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5342087.msg60593003#msg60593003

[dothebeats]

El Salvador is already a top tourist destination before they adopted bitcoin. What they did with bitcoin perhaps helped with their PR, and introduced them to a lot of people that never knew them before. Perhaps what happened is that people got curious with El Salvador because of bitcoin, but after some careful research they went there because the country has something to offer which attracted them. A few percentage of those tourists may have actually traveled there because of bitcoin, but to say that a lot of them went there due to that fact is, IMO, reaching.

[Accardo]

When did they claim this? I cannot find any direct statement in the Cointelegraph article that the inlux of tourists was because of bitcoin becoming a legal tender in the country. Can you quote that part in the washingtonpost article if they said it there. I couldn't open it.

 
Maybe you skipped this;

Since El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, thousands of Bitcoiners have made the trip.

I also found a tweet that best suits everyone under the thread that said is not all about bitcoin. El Salvador President said so;



So, I'll need different views on the question though everyone is skeptical if bitcoin is the reason why they is an increase in the number of tourists in the nation. I think the tweet above can reshape your views now, thanks.

[pooya87]

Recently El Salvador confirmed bitcoin magnets tourists to the nation. Claims bitcoin attracted 1.1 million visitors in 6 month

I haven't seen this claim. What they claimed was that due to bitcoin their tourism has grown more without giving any numbers or claiming all of it was because of bitcoin (like saying 1.1 million came to El Salvador because of bitcoin).
There are a couple of reasons contributing to this increase, one of them is bitcoin and another big one is increased security in El Salvador ever since they started fighting gangs and of course the fact that pandemic is not as serious as before.

was opposed by the wall street journal,

Although I agree that the adoption statistics in El Salvador seem exaggerated but WSJ is not a reliable source to know the details of how much bitcoin was spent by the tourists in another country.

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin?

A beautiful country with a lot of beaches near the Pacific Ocean, some historical sites and more importantly low costs there! Then we have bitcoin as the cherry on top

[ethereumhunter]

We don't know if the statement is true or false because we are not in El Salvador and see firsthand whether the people there or visitors pay with bitcoin as it says. Even if that is true, it is an attraction to attract more tourists, especially tourists who have a lot of bitcoins, to experience using bitcoin as a means of payment.

But hopefully, the news is true so that more people will visit El Salvador. But actually, El Salvador needs to see the tourism potential in their country as an attraction for tourists and maybe they can use bitcoin as a means of payment.

[Lucius]

After 2 years of the pandemic (which is still going on) people wanted to travel and that's why this year is very good or even excellent in many countries. I think that a part of tourists really choose El Salvador because of the fact that Bitcoin is legal tender in that country, but I don't think that this significantly affects their results in tourism.

In addition, there are very few globally who own Bitcoin at all, and even fewer who are ready to spend it - especially in larger amounts.

There are a couple of reasons contributing to this increase, one of them is bitcoin and another big one is increased security in El Salvador ever since they started fighting gangs and of course the fact that pandemic is not as serious as before.

They may have raised the level of security compared to a few years ago, but only a few months ago President Bukele canceled a visit to a conference in Miami due to gang violence in that country. That country is far from the security that an average European is used to, but maybe it's less of a problem for tourists from the US, to whom gangs and violence are nothing strange.

[DdmrDdmr]

Bukele is attributing the results due to bitcoin, surf and the crackdown on gangs. Nevertheless, though these factors likely weigh-in to some extent, there is no real evidence that they do, nor to the extent that each one applies.

The World Tourism Barometer report give El Salvador a 6% increase in tourism earnings over data from 2019. 2019 is used as a reference pre-pandemic reference base, thus this increase is seen as a sign of recovery. This other document from the UNWTO gives El Salvador a -1% decrease in tourism arrivals vs 2019 (see slide on page 15).

All the above, albeit not being much in terms of depth, suggests that tourism in El Salvador is essentially as it was before the pandemic, but does not reflect a boost of any kind compared to 2019 that we could say is heavily influenced by bitcoin. Logically on a personal scale we’d find hundreds of testimonials pointing to them using bitcoin there and having fun in the country, but that does not seem like something to extrapolate as being a core driver in recovering pre-pandemic figures, and it certainly does not seem to show in terms of a boost up from 2019 figures.

[franky1]

going to el salvador is on my list of places to go.
i didnt go before due to pandemic and also because their initial chivo wallet was a badly implemented wallet that caused alot of issues when i was talking to some el salvadorians.(LN route bottlenecks)

they have now shifted the backbone of chive wallet away from the LN model and moved over to a CEX model which has seen a better experience. but a slow adoption to regain their citizens trust in easy to use currency.
once they get more widespread and common and educated on it i would love to visit them and just be able to go anywhere and pay in bitcoin.
i just think they rushed it last year and now trying to have another go in a more rational and paced speed.

i look forward to going when i think they have settled in and got used to using bitcoin as a currency and not a tourist gimmick

[The Cryptovator]

I am not getting what is the relationship between Bitcoin legal tender & tourism. I don't see any reasonable scenario between that. Also, increase tourists doesn't mean Bitcoin, it's likely due to the COVID break. If tourist visits El Salvador due to Bitcoin being legal tender, then they should curious to use Bitcoin there. But not happening anything like this.

[Oneandpure]

Some of bitcoin investor really interested when have country available payment by using bitcoin, tourist will be easy when making transaction trough bitcoin without have to convert their own local money to El Savador cash money. I think all transaction needed like paying hotel, airplane ticket or anything could pay with bitcoin. I think their claim looks true because when bitcoin have been adopt as legal currency transaction will give chance for many tourist try to make payment with bitcoin, but still not really popular what tourist destination on El Savador, they have beautiful beach view or they have many historical place, maybe some here could mention about destination place by tourist when going to El Savador.

[Doan9269]

Recently El Salvador confirmed bitcoin magnets tourists to the nation. Claims bitcoin attracted 1.1 million visitors in 6 month was opposed by the wall street journal, saying most visitors never used bitcoin in the bitcoin beach and other stores that accepted bitcoin in the country.

It is right that El-Savador does not adopt bitcoin all because of tourist attraction but in it adoption comes a tourist advantage and opportunities in which it has utilize such opportunity to make a good economy advantage as well.

Given an example of a small bohemian hotel “Lagarza" owned by Daniel García, who confirmed only 15 bitcoin transaction since it became a legal tender in the country.

Do you think 15 bitcoin worth of transaction is a small figure with respect to USD, when you do the conversion you will discover that it's a reasonable amount at least on just a single entity made for transaction.

He went further saying that most visitors in the country paid with bitcoin to brag, though, it was made known in the article that, some vendors in El Salvador don't have a bitcoin wallet. And the country need to teach citizens how to transact with bitcoin to enable swift transaction.

Those vendors may not necessarily use only the chivo wallet but i can assure you that everyone there has a good advantage in making use of the chivo wallet

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin? So I think the wall street journal article covered a small part of El Salvador hotels.

Exactly!

[Rikafip]

Do you think 15 bitcoin worth of transaction is a small figure with respect to USD, when you do the conversion you will discover that it's a reasonable amount at least on just a single entity made for transaction.

I think that you misunderstood what @Accardo  wrote; that hotel owner didn't have 15 BTC worth of transactions, but overall 15 bitcoin transactions which is entirely different thing and far from impressive.


I know quite a few bitcoiners in real life who regularly go to exotic locations and I never heard any of them wanting to go to El Salvador just because bitcoin is a legal tender there and I gotta say that fact would be very low on my priority list when choosing for a next vacation location. So yeah, I don't think that bitcoin attracts many tourists there.

[Franctoshi]

That could be truth that El Salvador Bitcoin adoption could be one of the factors that may cause the increasing number of tourist in their country though there is no much evidence suggesting or data  backing it up, However that could be possible in the sense people might likened to travel and spend some time in El Salvador in order to have that life experience of living in a country that runs their economy in Bitcoin. For instance I myself want to have that experience of living or spending some time in El Salvador due to my passion for Bitcoin which I think a lot of Bitcoin Enthusiast might equally desire and in that case could increase the the number of tourist coming in to visit the country.

[teosanru]

Recently El Salvador confirmed bitcoin magnets tourists to the nation. Claims bitcoin attracted 1.1 million visitors in 6 month was opposed by the wall street journal, saying most visitors never used bitcoin in the bitcoin beach and other stores that accepted bitcoin in the country. Given an example of a small bohemian hotel “Lagarza" owned by Daniel García, who confirmed only 15 bitcoin transaction since it became a legal tender in the country.

He went further saying that most visitors in the country paid with bitcoin to brag, though, it was made known in the article that, some vendors in El Salvador don't have a bitcoin wallet. And the country need to teach citizens how to transact with bitcoin to enable swift transaction.

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin? So I think the wall street journal article covered a small part of El Salvador hotels.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/06/el-salvador-bitcoin-beach/ (Proves visitors don't use bitcoin)


https://www.google.com/amp/s/cointelegraph.com/news/tourists-flock-to-el-salvador-despite-bitcoin-bear-market/amp (Proves traders use bitcoin)

I also don't think tourist have anything to do with using bitcoin or anything else, one reason I can think of is that El Salvador might have been popularised after this recent change and people might have come to know about it who might not have known about it earlier. I believe this has nothing to do with making crypto a legal tender for sure.

[KennyR]

In one of his tweet President Nayib Bukele described about the increase in the tourism revenue within the country. He also described about the market during the pandemic and the growth after the pandemic. For now the increase in the tourism towards El Salvador could've taken place for two reasons. One is for bitcoin being legal which attracts cryptocurrency users. Second is the natural beauty and the connectivity of the tourism locations with bitcoin.

[Yogee]

....
Maybe you skipped this;

Since El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, thousands of Bitcoiners have made the trip.

I did not skip that part. I actually highlighted that when I said this,

Cointelegraph couldn't provide data that thousands of bitcoiners visited since the country adopted bitcoin.

There was no link to who said that so it's safe to say that the author of the cointelegraph article just made that assumption.

I also found a tweet that best suits everyone under the thread that said is not all about bitcoin. El Salvador President said so;

I found a better one,

News: President Nayib Bukele announced on twitter, El Salvador is one of the few countries that is recovering the tourism industry to pre-pandemic levels and that is international tourism and the reason behind that is #Bitcoin.

https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1555962079957245952

So, I'll need different views on the question though everyone is skeptical if bitcoin is the reason why they is an increase in the number of tourists in the nation. I think the tweet above can reshape your views now, thanks.

We've already established that the President made such claim but are you just going to take his word? Where's the supporting data? What the President has presented is only the total tourists that visited the country. There's no breakdown how many visited there because of bitcoin. Maybe it helped increased but is the number that significant? Have you considered that he's just trying to connect it to bitcoin and hype it? I would be glad to see if bitcoiners contributed at least 5% or 10% to the 1.1 million.

[TelolettOm]

El Salvador is the first country that accepts Bitcoin as legal tender in the country. And at least, they have proved it.
Ad I also read the news about this several days ago about it as written in the article Tourists flock to El Salvador despite Bitcoin bear market
With this condition, this is a good sign for Bitcoin right? Although this si a bearish era, in fact, this doesn't make people stop loving Bitcoin. They are still very enthusiastic to come to that country and enjoy all things there because of the easiness of Bitcoin utility. Their travel organization has confirmed this and they are thankful for this.
Well, how if many more countries will be like this? Bitcoin adoption will be much more spreading, many people will be easily suing BTC everywhere without any strict regulation or boundaries.

[sheenshane]

There are no clear data to support their claim but the Tweet said, "mostly" which I think in general they noticed due to Bitcoin.
It's a perfect combination for Bitcoin to spend, from beaches, surfing, and of course, buying food and accommodation for the tourist will surely they will freely use Bitcoin as a payment.

Maybe there are some Bitcoin enthusiasts who go there and experience how to spend their Bitcoin in a country that totally Bitcoin is legal and accepted like a fiat.  It's good news if this is true, it could be other countries will do the same to increase their tourist income.

[Drawesome]

I have visited the country and it looks like they are working on becoming more secure and improving the infrastructures.
There is a long way to go, but I contributed by giving my sats to those accepting BTC.
There are still few places accepting bitcoin, a good way to find them is through the bitcoinbeach wallet map.

[GreatArkansas]

For sure most tourists there are aware of El Salvador using Bitcoin as legal tender, they want to experience a country that is using Bitcoin as legal tender.
For me, I can consider legalizing Bitcoin to their country attracts tourists for sure. One of the many dreams of Bitcoin maximalists or using Bitcoin is to experience a place where you can really use Bitcoin just a normal payment everywhere.

[hyudien]

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin? So I think the wall street journal article covered a small part of El Salvador hotels.  

Just because of bitcoins? and is sure every tourist is interested? not too
El Salvador even before adopting Bitcoin has become one of the countries that have tourist destinations. As for Bitcoin there, it is not mandatory for tourists to make transactions because it will be very narrow if only visiting. Perhaps only a few percent after the rise of the country of El Salvador in the media as it is famous for adopting Bitcoin.

[Die_empty]

I my country I have to hide to carryout transactions with Bitcoin. I would definitely want to experience the freedom of using Bitcoin without restrictions. If I have the opportunity of choosing between visiting countries in South America, I would definitely choose El Salvador.Although basic amenities such as infrastructures and security must be put in place to make that country a tourist hub.   

[lizarder]

Recently El Salvador confirmed bitcoin magnets tourists to the nation. Claims bitcoin attracted 1.1 million visitors in 6 month was opposed by the wall street journal, saying most visitors never used bitcoin in the bitcoin beach and other stores that accepted bitcoin in the country. Given an example of a small bohemian hotel “Lagarza" owned by Daniel García, who confirmed only 15 bitcoin transaction since it became a legal tender in the country.

He went further saying that most visitors in the country paid with bitcoin to brag, though, it was made known in the article that, some vendors in El Salvador don't have a bitcoin wallet. And the country need to teach citizens how to transact with bitcoin to enable swift transaction.

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin? So I think the wall street journal article covered a small part of El Salvador hotels.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/06/el-salvador-bitcoin-beach/ (Proves visitors don't use bitcoin)


https://www.google.com/amp/s/cointelegraph.com/news/tourists-flock-to-el-salvador-despite-bitcoin-bear-market/amp (Proves traders use bitcoin)

This clearly shows that the understanding of people in that country has not been maximized regarding the use of bitcoin as a means of payment, when viewed from the content of the news you load, bitcoin is not fully understood by the people there.

Or it could be that they don't fully trust Bitcoin as a means of payment that makes it easy for them to transact, we can also conclude an illustration of the example in that country, the convenience offered by the developer concept also doesn't look optimal, I think this is also involved in matters of trust in the level of security and comfort in Bitcoin usage in the environment

[minairia3]

As no specific documents were released, only a statement from the president of El Salvador on twitter. That makes a lot of people skeptical.
From my perspective, there's also a bit of bitcoin relevance as El Salvador has emerged with claims of accepting bitcoin as legal tender, which may interest curious tourists.

If I have time or stay near El Salvador, I myself would not hesitate to visit their country once. Aside from visiting their hometown, as a bitcoin investor, it would be interesting to be able to use bitcoin to pay for most daily expenses with bitcoins without fiat. It was an experience that I thought would be great. Everyone should try, like how we live in a world with no fiat but only bitcoin. Isn't this what we've always wanted?

[Jatiluhung]

in fact is the number of tourists or tourists visiting el salvador to increase after the news about the adoption of bitcoin as a means of payment in el salvador was legalized.
so at first el salvador was not a famous country. but after the policies taken by el salvador regarding bitcoin payments. so from that moment el salvador became a country that was quite famous as the first country to legalize bitcoin as a means of payment in that country.

even i just found out there is a country called el salvador is after the news appeared.

so it's natural that tourists become more and more visiting el salvador. because el salvador became better known after his phenomenal policy was widely discussed in various media.

so the reason people go to el salvador as tourists is that they basically become curious about the country of el salvador itself. and maybe some of them want to try bitcoin as a means of payment. or there are visitors who are just curious about the hotly discussed country.


in fact EL SALVADOR is now FAMOUS. so that once more known it will certainly attract tourists to visit it. whether you know bitcoin or not. but the initial trigger was after the policy taken by el salvador regarding bitcoin as a means of payment.

and even i think el salvador will go down in the history books as the first country to legalize bitcoin as a means of payment.

[2stout]

Whether an overstatement or understatement, there is credence to this statement and some may say "proof".  However, this needs to be taken a step further to show this is true even when all dependencies are accounted for and taken out of the equation.  I believe Bitcoin helps but is the bigger attraction Bitcoin in and of itself or that crime is dramatically down as well?

[worle1bm]

There might be a boom in the tourism sector of El Salvador because of bitcoin being legal tender over there as people from across the globe wants to test this up like paying at street foods and big restaurants with just one scan and use of LN walllets.Frankly saying then btc has helped El Salvador recovered in many ways and making progress in economy section also as you see tourism boost foreign reserves of the country.

[noorman0]

But I doubt the use of bitcoin as a tourist initiative, so far I do not know the reality on the ground. I read this article, there was a merchant in the tourism area who never had a bank account. If it is assumed that some retail merchants do not have bank accounts and only use bitcoin as an electronic payment method, of course this growth cannot be called organic.
In addition, there is no stated percentage of tourists actually using bitcoin during their vacation there.

[Poker Player]

There might be a boom in the tourism sector of El Salvador because of bitcoin being legal tender over there as people from across the globe wants to test this up like paying at street foods and big restaurants with just one scan and use of LN walllets.Frankly saying then btc has helped El Salvador recovered in many ways and making progress in economy section also as you see tourism boost foreign reserves of the country.

I agree with this, and more so with restrictive legislations that force KYC to the extreme, such as the one in place in the European Union. It seems to me that if it ends up being approved the trips of Europeans to El Salvador are going to grow, for sightseeing, spending their Bitcoin while in the country and exchanging some Bitcoin for fiat.

[stompix]

Yes bitcoiners are great tourists as well. While many nations have banned Bitcoin and there are hefty taxes on Bitcoin earning. Such  nationals need a safe heaven. El Salvador has given them that option.

If Bitcoiners are great tourists, and if Salvador is such an attraction then why don't we have topics over topics on how users here have spent their vacation in Salvador? We have thousands of members and yet....nothing! Everyone is saying how great this is, how it will make millions in tourism income, and how bitcoins will spend thousands but when it comes to themselves it seems like holding coins and stashing them is way better.

The World Tourism Barometer report give El Salvador a 6% increase in tourism earnings over data from 2019. 2019 is used as a reference pre-pandemic reference base, thus this increase is seen as a sign of recovery. This other document from the UNWTO gives El Salvador a -1% decrease in tourism arrivals vs 2019 (see slide on page 15).

Bukele should be jealous of how Spain is doing:

More than twice as many tourists visited Spain in June than in the same month last year and they spent almost three times as much during their stay, National Statistics Institute data showed on Tuesday

Even a comparison with 2019 is not really making any sense since people haven't been able to go in and out of the country without a care in the world for two years now everyone is looking for a foreign trip, probably 2023 vs 2019 numbers will show if anything has really improved and it's not just a spike.

Frankly saying then btc has helped El Salvador recovered in many ways and making progress in economy section also as you see tourism boost foreign reserves of the country.

Progress in the economy? 10% budget deficit, 5 billion trade deficit?
 

[edgycorner]

The recent rise in tourism was due to relaxation in covid regulations and has nothing to do with bitcoin. Correlation isn't causation.

If you take a dump when the sun rises, are you going to credit your colon for the movement of celestial bodies in the solar system? This take about bitcoin propelling tourism is equally stupid.

There's one thing happening for certain tho: Money laundering. Buy BTC with your illicit funds, and run a fake hotel business in El Salvador to convert your BTC into clean USD at reduced tax  

Their dictator is all about bling and show, while its people suffer in poverty. FUCK BUKELE   AND FUCK HIM TWICE FOR REDUCING BITCOIN AS A DEVICE FOR HIS PROPAGANDA MACHINE

[Nrcewker]

Yes bitcoiners are great tourists as well. While many nations have banned Bitcoin and there are hefty taxes on Bitcoin earning. Such  nationals need a safe heaven. El Salvador has given them that option. If Swiss banks can be the fiat heaven El Salvador is Bitcoin heaven and will reap benifits for the same.
.

I too agree on this.
The main reason for which many people have paid a visit to the place is due to the adoption of Bitcoins.
As other countries cannot implement tax on Bitcoins and declaring it as an illegal source of income or asset, El Salvador has done immense job to handle these types of pressure.
Also El Salvador has great beaches and water bodies, so this might also attract more tourists to visit the place along with Bitcoins.

[Pmalek]

Maybe you skipped this;

Since El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, thousands of Bitcoiners have made the trip.

I wouldn't say that thousands of new bitcoiners means that tourists are flocking to El Salvador mainly because of the country's use of Bitcoin as legal tender. There is still at least a million who are coming for other reasons if those numbers are correct.

Despite their adoption of Bitcoin, I wouldn't want to visit El Salvador. Gang violence, crime, drugs... those are all things that are more important to solve than paying my way with Bitcoin.

[DdmrDdmr]

<…> Bukele should be jealous of how Spain is doing:

More than twice as many tourists visited Spain in June than in the same month last year and they spent almost three times as much during their stay, National Statistics Institute data showed on Tuesday

That’s because Spain has 257 bitcoin ATMs in the country, against the 212 in El Salvador. I mean if Bukele can attribute the tourism recovery to bitcoin in the country, I can do likewise, with the same (apparently baseless) set of information.

Much as they like to attribute the recovery to pre-pandemic figures to bitcoin related tourism, they really should back the assertion with some undeniable data pulled from somewhere other than where I think it came from. Sure some traction will have come from it, but say a 5% attribution or a 30% attribution would have completely different readings, and having a lack of data leaves us in the blue really.

[stadus]

Well, that was what they think but I don't think it was realistic rather than fake news.
I'd expect how El Salvador President to have this idea but thinking why we never hear people, Bitcoiners go there and spend their Bitcoins? People will go to that place without minding if Bitcoin is accepted or not, they go there because they want to spend good moment in El Salvador.

I'd say is was overly speculated - might say it is one of their attributes but there are so many reason why tourist come and visit , not because of Bitcoin alone.

[TheNineClub]

It's both right and wrong. It's right in a sense that it probably did attract crypto tourists because it sure ain't the prospect of a person getting kidnaped something that would attract people to come over there on their holiday. The wrong thing about it is that we can't be sure it's really that number, how many of those people are just crypto expats wanting to move there more permanently, and it's not really a sustainable model that would attract continuous tourists.

[Leviathan.007]

Since I didn't visit this country I cannot say a lot about other interesting options for tourists in El Salvador but from what I can see these days the governments of El Salvador are trying hard to attract people to El Salvador as a new home of bitcoiners and the people who like investing in bitcoin, however regardless of the options people can get from using bitcoin in El Salvador they governments should provide them more safely especially for the tourists, because this can be another way for El Salvador to get some income in the future.

[lepbagong]

just a coincidence maybe, actually el salvador has a lot of promising tourism not because of the bitcoin, because there is no sentence that claims bitcoin attracts tourists to el salvador, here the government should be more active in beautifying the existing tourism places so that the country's foreign exchange can improve without relying on reserves funds in bitcoin to meet the needs of his country

maybe bitcoin is just a complement for convenience for tourists who really want to go to elsavador and can use the convenience of being able to make transactions using bitcoin.
but I agree with my friend above that there are many tourists to Elsavador because the tourist attractions there are qualified and can be used as destinations for those who want to find entertainment. so elsavador should continue to beautify themselves and prepare well so that many tourists feel comfortable staying there to spend their money, so that the economy can improve. bitcoin is clearly only as a confidence enhancer for tourists who really want to use bitcoin payments.

[Vaskiy]

Nicki & James in El Salvador 🇸🇻 (@njelsalvador)
I used to follow this Twitter profile which belongs to a couple who have moved to El Salvador after the bitcoin adoption and they find it good. This makes me believe cryptocurrency has changed the business all around and this has attracted more people which is also a true statement. So, El Salvador claiming that it made good progress in the tourism sector out of Bitcoin adoption is true.

[TimeTeller]

Nicki & James in El Salvador 🇸🇻 (@njelsalvador)
I used to follow this Twitter profile which belongs to a couple who have moved to El Salvador after the bitcoin adoption and they find it good. This makes me believe cryptocurrency has changed the business all around and this has attracted more people which is also a true statement. So, El Salvador claiming that it made good progress in the tourism sector out of Bitcoin adoption is true.

We can put it this way, bitcoin being legal tender in El Salvador has good impact with their tourism industry.
It may not be the ultimate driving force for some tourists, but definitely, it gives reason to some tourists to check out this country.
So in any case, bitcoin has some influence with the progress of their tourism sector, which is actually good.
Great to see the positive impact of bitcoin in this country, it will be a good example for some countries to follow their path.

[virasisog]

Nicki & James in El Salvador 🇸🇻 (@njelsalvador)
I used to follow this Twitter profile which belongs to a couple who have moved to El Salvador after the bitcoin adoption and they find it good. This makes me believe cryptocurrency has changed the business all around and this has attracted more people which is also a true statement. So, El Salvador claiming that it made good progress in the tourism sector out of Bitcoin adoption is true.

We can't deny the fact that their country's adoption of Bitcoin can really attract lots of Bitcoin users. Investors especially those who prefer using Bitcoin in all types of transactions can move freely in the said country. El Salvador is known for its beautiful tourist's destinations yet Bitcoin also imparted something to increase their tourism. Their adoption is beneficial not just for their people but also to their economy. I hope more countries could see how Bitcoin adoption can make the economy better.

[danadc]

A friend was in El Salvador for work reasons, she tells me that most people do not know Bitcoin, they have a very vague idea, she was sharing with vaccination, sterilization and pet care sessions, she let me know that bitcoin if he is in most commercial establishments giving Bitcoin as a payment option, he told me that he could not go to the so-called Bitcoin City, but for the next one as a promise if he intends to do so.

[doomloop]

There might be a boom in the tourism sector of El Salvador because of bitcoin being legal tender over there as people from across the globe wants to test this up like paying at street foods and big restaurants with just one scan and use of LN walllets.Frankly saying then btc has helped El Salvador recovered in many ways and making progress in economy section also as you see tourism boost foreign reserves of the country.

I think they didn't expect that this can happen. It's amazing how they benefit in bitcoin, not only from making their lives more easier but also from this.

If only some countries know this earlier then I think they will also rush to be the first that will make btc a legal tender but it's not too late yet because there are countries that are too far from El Salvador and even if people are itchy to visit them and try this new trend, they will doubt and end up not doing it but if there are countries that does the same thing and are closer to them then they will surely go for that instead to lessen the travel cost but it would be better if their own country join this trend too.

[n0ne]

A friend was in El Salvador for work reasons, she tells me that most people do not know Bitcoin, they have a very vague idea, she was sharing with vaccination, sterilization and pet care sessions, she let me know that bitcoin if he is in most commercial establishments giving Bitcoin as a payment option, he told me that he could not go to the so-called Bitcoin City, but for the next one as a promise if he intends to do so.

The initiative taken is big, but the government lacks proper education about bitcoin. What needs to be done further is educating the people. In some articles I came across El Salvador people just making use of the Chivo Wallet to claim the free $30 worth bitcoin and are not using it further. Slowly we can expect progress, because it finds little difficult for the people to get adopted to the changing system.

[EdenHazard]

Do you think 15 bitcoin worth of transaction is a small figure with respect to USD, when you do the conversion you will discover that it's a reasonable amount at least on just a single entity made for transaction.

I think that you misunderstood what @Accardo  wrote; that hotel owner didn't have 15 BTC worth of transactions, but overall 15 bitcoin transactions which is entirely different thing and far from impressive.


I know quite a few bitcoiners in real life who regularly go to exotic locations and I never heard any of them wanting to go to El Salvador just because bitcoin is a legal tender there and I gotta say that fact would be very low on my priority list when choosing for a next vacation location. So yeah, I don't think that bitcoin attracts many tourists there.

Well that's yours , people have different preference.

And for me traveling to a place where you can transact anything with bitcoin get me so curious to fly there and give it a shot on how bitcoin environment built there. It's a curiousity that makes people like me could splash the money to travel to el salvador to feel the experience by myself.

[yazher]

I don't know how tourists and bitcoins connected to each other because all I thought this time was the tourist only interested in nice places where there are lots of good views and people cultures. I think what they mean by it is the people who wanted to try how is the feeling on living in a country that completely accepts bitcoins as a payment. Some people are curious we can't deny that and that might the reason to drive them to that place.

[darewaller]

The problem is that going to El Salvador is not cheap, and that means there are people who are rich in crypto that could go to ES but that is only good for a while and for only a few people. I would love to visit there myself and he is right about the fact that just because they made it legal tender, many of us here would love to visit there at least once.

But, when we are talking about people who cannot afford going there, that makes it a bit harder. I do not have enough money to buy tickets to a flight to El Salvador round trip let alone actually stay there, which shows you that his intentions are true, but reality is more costly and we can't even think about it as of now. Like, if you are holding around one bitcoin and bitcoin prices will be getting into a another 20x to 50x then we could plan up for this most likely.

[Reatim]

just a coincidence maybe, actually el salvador has a lot of promising tourism not because of the bitcoin, because there is no sentence that claims bitcoin attracts tourists to el salvador, here the government should be more active in beautifying the existing tourism places so that the country's foreign exchange can improve without relying on reserves funds in bitcoin to meet the needs of his country

In their desperation they will do anything just to lure investors of crypto because admit it or not but their Bitcoin adoption is really not attracting their own people, still not majority of El Salvadorian is supporting this government move so maybe with all their target they will release multiple news for the benefits if bitcoin increasing usage in that region.

[Oneandpure]

I don't know how tourists and bitcoins connected to each other because all I thought this time was the tourist only interested in nice places where there are lots of good views and people cultures. I think what they mean by it is the people who wanted to try how is the feeling on living in a country that completely accepts bitcoins as a payment. Some people are curious we can't deny that and that might the reason to drive them to that place.

Absolutely not any connected between bitcoin adopter with tourists, some tourists what ever their job keep priority how best view and place on some country destination for travelling, they not really care about bitcoin as legal digital currency or not although he was an investor in bitcoin and cryptocurrency. I think what for bitcoin used as legal currency transaction but there not any special place become destination for travelling. I think priority first if want to get many tourism have unique and beautiful place but when using bitcoin as legal currency will give credit points to make tourism will be interested priority country have legal bitcoin.

[Rikafip]

And for me traveling to a place where you can transact anything with bitcoin get me so curious to fly there and give it a shot on how bitcoin environment built there. It's a curiousity that makes people like me could splash the money to travel to el salvador to feel the experience by myself.

Fair enough, but how many bitcoiners like you know, that are willing to travel to another country just to experience spending some bitcoin directly? From my experience, not many "bitcoiners" actually spend bitcoin even when they can and instead they chose to rather spend fiat so I doubt that El Salvador can attract many bitcoin-tourists that way.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind going to some country where I can spend bitcoin directly (as a matter of fact I did something relatively similar to that few times, going for a vacation to a foreign country and paying everything with crypto debit card only) but that location should offer me more stuff than just having bitcoin as a legal tender.

[Davidvictorson]

I believe the experience of using bitcoin for transactions is one of the reasons why El Salvador is seeing a spark in tourism. Besides some of the tourists may be there for other reasons other than tourism. Personally, I think crypto entrepreneurs who vacation there may also be looking to start a new market, interview the locals and just to get a feel of their experience with bitcoin usage.

[darkangel11]

It's true. When they say bitcoin made the country popular it did it in two ways:
1. Made it popular among bitcoiners who want to spend some of their money and last year the profits were piling up so people were more eager to spend.
2. Put it in the mainstream media which made many people believe it or not aware of the country's existence. I'll be honest here, I knew about El Salvador, but before they accepted bitcoin I wouldn't be able to accurately point it on the map. Now I can.

[NicNacCoin]

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin? So I think the wall street journal article covered a small part of El Salvador hotels.  

Bitcoin did really make El Salvador a popular country but that is not the only reason why tourists are going on that country. According to the link below, their country has many beaches, volcanoes, and historical ruins that are worth visiting. Tourists would enjoy their trip there since it is less crowded compared to other neighboring countries.

https://www.airtransat.com/experiencetransat/10-reasons-visit-el-salvador/

Bitcoin is one of the most talked about and popular coins around the world. However, this Bitcoin El Salvador has gained a lot of recognition around the world by validating it in its country.El Salvador may not have known the name of this country but he has gained a lot of popularity all over the world for launching many Bitcoin ATMs in his country and legalizing Bitcoin.And by visiting your link I can see that they have many good tourist centers with really nice environment to enjoy.These will occupy many places in the mind of tourists but you can definitely choose to enjoy all these places.

[lepbagong]

What could have attracted cryptocurrency tourists to El Salvador if not bitcoin? So I think the wall street journal article covered a small part of El Salvador hotels.  

Bitcoin did really make El Salvador a popular country but that is not the only reason why tourists are going on that country. According to the link below, their country has many beaches, volcanoes, and historical ruins that are worth visiting. Tourists would enjoy their trip there since it is less crowded compared to other neighboring countries.

https://www.airtransat.com/experiencetransat/10-reasons-visit-el-salvador/

Bitcoin is one of the most talked about and popular coins around the world. However, this Bitcoin El Salvador has gained a lot of recognition around the world by validating it in its country.El Salvador may not have known the name of this country but he has gained a lot of popularity all over the world for launching many Bitcoin ATMs in his country and legalizing Bitcoin.And by visiting your link I can see that they have many good tourist centers with really nice environment to enjoy.These will occupy many places in the mind of tourists but you can definitely choose to enjoy all these places.

actually elsavador is a country that has a view that can be enjoyed and made a dynasty for tourism by foreign tourists. but because of the courage of their leaders by adopting bitcoin to be used as a legal medium of exchange in their country, elsavador has become increasingly popular. elsavador has become the talk of many economic observers with this courage, although in fact this has also made elsavador more famous not only because of the tourism dynasty but also because of the role of bitcoin, again this is the effect that occurs with bitcoin adoption.
Of course, the luck of adopting bitcoin will bring a lot of things that can be done by the Salvadoran country in the future, so bitcoin can certainly be very helpful for their economy.

[amihada]

El Salvador country has legalized bitcoin as far as I know many tourists invest in bitcoin, so when a country legalized bitcoin it is clear that many tourists are interested in visiting that country.

[romero121]

Tourism in El Salvador generated revenue of $755 million during the year 2020. As the pandemic interfered the country experienced lack of revenue from tourism. Roughly it contributes around 3% of the country's GDP. To overcome the economic situation out of pandemic, the government took measures and working on it.

In recent days the tourism have boomed in El Salvador. This is much in connection with the bitcoin adoption as well as the tourism locations created. As of now El Salvador attracts the most of the tourism among the Latin American countries. According to me the tourism boom in El Salvador is happening because of bitcoin adoption.

[Drawesome]

It is too early, it is a complicated thing, and people don't get it yet. I have been there and trying to educate... haha hard work. Anyways, finally I spend my BTC with people and businesses who accepted Bitcoin. Positive reinforcement !! 

Go to El Salvador and don't spend a single dolar!

Hint: You can download Bitcoinbeach wallet, and there's a map with business accepting BTC with this wallet. Besides that, the biggest supermarket : super selectos, accepts BTC. So you won't starve to death

[To.Nick]

El Salvador has been blooming in the aspect of tourism, ever since the Bitcoin law came into place, all thanks to President Nayib Bukele. Although the economic stability of El Salvador is still yet to be properly handled.
  On the 13th of October live on CNBC news, a 37-year-old resident and a development engineer working in the capital city of San Salvador, Edgardo Acevedo has found the nationwide crypto experiment to be a whole bunch of disappointment and disaster because many  big businesses and locals are still finding it hard to go with the flow. Although crime and violence has gone down the notch beautifully, but economically there's nothing to actually show for it due to the low adaption rate of most Salvadorians to this new system.
In summary, yes El Salvador has found a cheat in tourists attraction, but will that be able to keep that great name EL SALVADOR still standing in the long run.