Greece is internationally renowned for its gorgeous beaches and laid-back way of life. Prior to the start of the worldwide pandemic, the World Travel and Tourism Council estimated that tourism accounted for over twenty percent of Greece's overall gross domestic product.
This year, a record number of tourists visited the nation during its summer tourism season. According to the Greek Minister of Tourism, Vassilis Kikilias, the nation attracted approximately one million travelers each week in the month of August alone.
According to a research from ForwardKeys, Greece occupied six of the top ten "sun and beach" destinations in Europe during the summer of 2018. These destinations included Mykonos, Thira (Santorini), and Heraklion (Crete), in addition to Thessaloniki. The country's capital, Athens, ranked third among "urban" destinations in Europe.
Greece is sixth among the 27 member nations of the European Union in terms of bitcoin ATMs, with 64 in operation. Over fifty percent of the crypto ATMs in Greece are spread between Athens and Thessaloniki.
However, the Bitcoin ATM operator BCash carefully put a number of its ATMs in Mykonos, Santorini, and Crete, three of Greece's most fashionable island locations. Cointelegraph talked with Dimitrios Tsangalidis, managing director and co-founder of BCash, on how crypto affects or is affected by the tourist season in Greece.
According to Tsangalidis, while Mykonos and Santorini are the most popular tourist destinations, the bulk of ATM use occurs on the mainland, particularly in downtown Athens, where the first ATM was put, and Thessaloniki.
Crete, the country's most populous island and a famous tourist destination, has a "very loyal cryptocurrency crowd." according to the co-founder.
“There is a strong crypto community in Heraklion of Crete [which is] the location of one of our ATMs."
In Heraklion, the capital of Crete, the local start-up accelerator H2B Hub made a collaboration with the Greek-speaking University of Nicosia to create and support a local blockchain community.
Both Athens and Thessaloniki have active, regular meetups for the crypto and blockchain community.
While tourism bolsters parts of the Greek economy, according to Tsangalidis, it doesn’t translate to the crypto scene. “Unfortunately, the absolute opposite happens,” says Tsangalidis.
“In summer months and high tourist seasons, the demand drops. But we are in the middle of crypto winter that came earlier this year, so it is really hard to tell."
Especially in terms of regular traffic, the decline might be attributed to vacationing residents.
Tsangalidis concludes that Greece needs a greater understanding of cryptocurrencies and their value in daily life.
“Influence on local tourism can be noticeable only if there is a general adoption of cryptocurrency within society.”
He says that there is little infrastructure or acceptance among Greek enterprises and municipal governments at this time. If our government becomes crypto-friendly and companies are given the go-ahead, then adoption will follow.
In May of this year, Angela Gerekou, the head of the Greek National Tourism Organization, said that the government is investigating how blockchain technology might promote safety and transparency in the tourism industry.
