Tourism in El Salvador saw a sharp rise in the first half of 2022. Up to 82.8% just this year, 1.1 million visitors came to El Salvador this year, according to government figures. And this, despite the fall of almost 50% in the price of bitcoin (BTC) since January 1st.
Data from the World Travel Organization supports these claims. The small Central American country is internationally recognized as “one of the countries with the best tourism recovery rate in the region from January 2022”.
El Salvador is internationally recognized as one of the countries with the best tourism recovery rhythm in the region by 2022.
Segun datos de la @UNWTOthere was an 81% recovery in the country, more information in the following link:
https://t.co/Y9WVK1VJLe pic.twitter.com/wu7Jl25pEK— Ministerio de Turismo (@MITURElSalvador) March 31, 2022
El Salvador has been internationally recognized as one of the countries with the best tourism recovery rate in the region as of January 2022. According to UNWTO data, the country has a recovery rate of 81%, more information in the following link: https:// /t.co/Y9WVK1VJLe pic.twitter.com/wu7Jl25pEK — Ministry of Tourism (@MITURElSalvador) March 31, 2022
The UNWTO report says that some “Central American destinations compared to 2019” have the best results, especially El Salvador at +81% compared to 2019, ie pre-pandemic levels.
Contrary to reports from the Wall Street Journal that El Salvador’s gambling on bitcoin to attract tourists was not “working”, the visits in the first half of this year were almost more than the total visits of 2019: 1.1 million people visited the country in six months, compared to a total of 1.2 million last year.
In a radio interview, the General Director of Strategic Projects of the Ministry of Tourism of El Salvador, Alex Bonilla, explained that the country can expect “57,500 international visitors during the summer vacation period, which will generate $60 million in foreign exchange during the that period. holiday.” It is expected that the bar of 1.2 million visitors will be crossed soon.
Director of Strategic Projects, @alexboSVcatch up on the radio @SonoraFM_sv for the turismo and the holidays.
Don’t forget 104.5FM! pic.twitter.com/HLwVeugQK6
— Ministerio de Turismo (@MITURElSalvador) August 2, 2022
Director of Strategic Projects @alexboSV is already on @SonoraFM_sv radio talking about how tourism is doing this holiday season. Don’t miss it on 104.5FM! pic.twitter.com/HLwVeugQK6 — Ministry of Tourism (@MITURElSalvador) August 2, 2022
Since El Salvador accepted bitcoin as legal tender, thousands of bitcoiners have made the journey. Famous bitcoiners like Jeff Booth, entrepreneur and author of Price of Tomorrow, Obi Nwosu, CEO of Fedimint, the decentralized community custody solution, and Samson Mow, CEO of Jan3, have all made the pilgrimage to El Salvador.
AFTER
1) El Salvador reaffirmed what I learned from my travels around the world.The vast majority of people in this world are beautiful people.
With similar hopes and dreams for a better life for themselves and their families, trying their best to achieve it
—Jeff Booth (@JeffBooth) April 4, 2022
1) El Salvador gave me the opportunity to reaffirm what I learned during my travels around the world. The vast majority of people in this world are beautiful people. They have the same hopes and dreams for a better life for themselves and their families, and they do their best to achieve it. — Jeff Booth (@JeffBooth) April 4, 2022
As Bitcoin analyst Tone Vays said of his visit to El Salvador, “99.9% of the world had no idea where this country was; maybe 98% didn’t know this country ever existed – they [le Salvador] definitely on the map now”. Bitcoin proponents are eager to bring home exciting stories about their trip to the land of volcanoes. At the same time, bitcoin-focused businesses are motivated to make El Salvador’s experiment a success.
Max Keizer and Stacey Herbert, bitcoin specialists, chose to move to El Salvador and establish their podcast and broadcast operations there. Under the bitcoin bill, residency in El Salvador can effectively be purchased for 3 BTC, or $66,000 at the time of writing, as part of an investment in the country.
Also read: Morgan Stanley Urges Investors to Buy El Salvador’s Eurobonds
El Salvador, known in some circles as “El Hodlador”, also hosted a group of central bankers in May this year. “The group of influential visitors did not discuss bitcoin,” according to the Central Bank of Paraguay, whose delegate was a tourist in El Salvador. However, many photos show the 44 leading bankers and economists using the Bitcoin Beach wallet in El Zonte, the adopted birthplace of BTC in the country.
The capital, San Salvador, is hosting the Bitcoin Adoption Conference, the Lightning Network summit in November of this year. More than 80 Bitcoin and Lightning Network experts will take the stage during the conference, along with representatives from Blockstream, Spiral, and the government of El Salvador.