Greece is globally acknowledged for its touristic lures of idyllic seashores and a laid-back way of life. Previous to the outbreak of the worldwide pandemic, the World Journey and Tourism Council stated that tourism generated over one-fifth of Greece’s whole GDP.
This yr, the nation confronted a report variety of vacationers throughout its summer season tourism season. Within the month of August alone, the nation acquired practically 1 million journey arrivals per week, in response to the Greek Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias.
A report from ForwardKeys on this yr’s summer season tourism revealed that, of the highest ten “solar and seaside” places in Europe, Greece held six areas. These included the island locations of Mykonos, Thira (Santorini) and Heraklion (Crete), in addition to Thessaloniki. Athens, the nation’s capital, took third place for “city” locations in Europe.
Within the 27 European Union member states, Greece takes the sixth spot when it comes to cryptocurrency ATMs, with 64 energetic for utilization. Over half of Greece’s crypto ATMs are shared between Athens and Thessaloniki.
Nonetheless, the Bitcoin ATM operator BCash strategically positioned a few of its ATMs within the nation’s stylish island locations of Mykonos, Santorini and Crete. Cointelegraph spoke with the managing director and co-founder of BCash, Dimitrios Tsangalidis, on how crypto is impacted by or itself impacts the tourism season in Greece.
Though Mykonos and Santorini are essentially the most visited vacationer locations, the mainland ATMs have nearly all of site visitors, in response to Tsangalidis — particularly central Athens, the place the primary ATM was put in, and Thessaloniki.
Nonetheless, the co-founder famous that in Crete, the nation’s most populated island and a well-liked vacationer vacation spot, there’s a “very loyal cryptocurrency crowd.”
“There’s a robust crypto neighborhood in Heraklion of Crete [which is] the situation of certainly one of our ATMs.”
In Heraklion, the capital of Crete, the native start-up accelerator H2B Hub made a collaboration with the Greek-speaking College of Nicosia to create and help a neighborhood blockchain neighborhood.
Each Athens and Thessaloniki have energetic, common meetups for the crypto and blockchain neighborhood.
Whereas tourism bolsters components of the Greek economic system, in response to Tsangalidis, it doesn’t translate to the crypto scene. “Sadly, absolutely the reverse occurs,” says Tsangalidis.
“In summer season months and excessive vacationer seasons, the demand drops. However we’re in the midst of crypto winter that got here earlier this yr, so it’s actually arduous to inform.”
Particularly when it comes to common site visitors, the lower can be equated to locals leaving for trip.
Associated: Vacationers flock to El Salvador regardless of Bitcoin bear market
On the whole, Greece wants extra consciousness of cryptocurrencies and their utility in on a regular basis life, Tsangalidis sums up.
“Affect on native tourism will be noticeable provided that there’s a common adoption of cryptocurrency inside society.”
He provides that for now, there may be little to no infrastructure or adoption from the extent of Greek companies and native governments. “If our authorities will turn into crypto pleasant and if a inexperienced mild can be given to companies, then adoption will observe.”
In Could of this yr, the president of the Greek Nationwide Tourism Group, Angela Gerekou, stated the nation is at present exploring how blockchain know-how can result in security and transparency in tourism.
