- The Bitcoin Valley program seeks to re-ignite tourism in Honduras which has taken a dive after COVID-19.
- All local businesses of Santa Lucia will start accepting BTC and crypto exchange CoinCaex will help merchants instantly convert them to fiat to avoid price volatility.
As per the latest development, the tourist town of Honduras has started accepting Bitcoins as payments. This comes as part of the “Bitcoin Valley” in Santa Lucia to drive tourism revenue across all 60 local businesses.
Cesar Andino, a local shopping mall owner at Santa Lucia said that the initiative will open up new opportunities for shops in the area. He also expects the initiative to attract more tourists wanting to use this currency. Speaking to a local news publication, La Prensa, Andino said:
In Santa Lucia, we are all going to participate in this project. Let’s go with everything. Accepting Bitcoin will allow us to open another market and win more customers. We have to globalize. We cannot close ourselves off from technology, and we cannot be left behind when other countries are already doing it.
The Bitcoin Valley project seeks to make Santa Lucia the first Bitcoin city in the country of Honduras. It also makes Santa Lucia the fourth tourist destination in the Central American region to establish a circular economy by using Bitcoin.
The municipal government of Santa Lucia developed its Bitcoin Valley program in partnership with Blockchain Honduras, Coincaex crypto exchange, and the Technological University of Honduras.
Crypto exchange Coincaex will provide the infrastructure required to conduct cryptocurrency payments. On the other hand, Blockchain Honduras will provide the necessary knowledge for the use of crypto wallets.
Use of Bitcoin In Santa Lucia
As the local publication explained, customers will be able to pay for the goods and services in Bitcoin. These BTC then instantly move to the Coincaez exchange and the exchange will convert them into Lempira by avoiding any loss to the merchants due to price volatility.
Thus, business owners won’t receive BTC directly in the form of payments. Local businesses of Santa Lucia is hopeful that the Bitcoin Valley program will re-spark tourism in the country, which took a major hit post the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to COIVD-19 in 2019, Honduras enjoyed about $556 million in annual tourism spending. However, by 2020, this dropped 66 percent to $189 million. Ruben Carbajal Velazquez, professor at the Technological University, said:
Santa Lucia’s community will be educated to use and manage cryptocurrencies, implementing them in different businesses in the region and generating crypto-tourism.
As said, Honduras is not the first country to take the Bitcoin route. The Latin American country of El Salvador has also been working on its own Bitcoin City. El Salvador finance minister Alejandro Zelaya recently said that the country is working on its plans for a Bitcoin city and other Bitcoin projects.
Related: El Salvador president Nayib Bukele to host 44 countries to discuss Bitcoin
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