An announcement by the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele reports a 10% GDP growth in 2021. With the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as legal cash in El Salvador in September 2021, the country’s GDP and tourism experienced significant increases.
Tourism Minister Morena Valdez reported that tourism in El Salvador has grown by more than 30%. This growth is a result of the Bitcoin legislation.
During an interview with El Salvador News English on Monday, Valdez revealed that they conducted a survey. The purpose of the survey was to see how things have changed with the introduction of Bitcoin. According to the results, there was a growth in the tourism industry in November and December. Valdez indicated that the tourism sector had surged by more than 30%.
Boom! 💥 💥 💥
El Salvador’s tourism has grown by 30% since the Bitcoin Lawhttps://t.co/i8t6JRHD1a#ElSalvador #BitcoinLaw #bitcoin #bitcoininvestment #Abtc #tourism #BitcoinCity #blockchain #investments
— Mónica Taher ⚡️🇸🇻 (@monicataher) February 22, 2022
The Effect of BTC legislation in El Salvador’s Tourism
El Salvador’s use of Bitcoin has affected the flow of tourism. According to Valdez, it has boosted the number of American visits. Additionally, before the Bitcoin legislation was passed, most visitors were from the Central American isthmus. Nonetheless, since the BTC adoption, the nation of visitors has obviously changed. Valdez claimed that 60% of visitors are currently from the United States.
El Salvador’s tourism boom surpassed the government’s forecasts given these points. The expected number of tourists was 1.1 million, but instead, there were 1.4 million visitors.
On the other hand, Valdez said that their forecast for foreign exchange revenue was $800,000. However, they ended up with almost $1.400 million. This is all thanks to the unexpected growth of tourism that BTC legislation brought.
Furthermore, exports, a significant engine of economic development in the nation, experienced growth. They have increased 13% year over year in January 2022. This information was released after President Bukele published El Salvador’s GDP growth of 10.3%.
El Salvador’s GDP grew 10.3% in 2021.
And now its exports (a main driver of economic growth) grew 13% this January, compared to January 2021.
Are we looking at another double digit GDP growth this year?
By the way, El Salvador never had a double digit GDP growth before 2021. https://t.co/f9yMkPpLNJ
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) February 19, 2022