There is a saying that goes like this – “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page”. This sounds meaningful only to those who love exploring this beautiful planet.
IBISWorld — a market research organization recently conducted a research that showed that the annual estimated worth of global tourism market to be around $1 trillion dollars. Tourism is a huge industry that can be easily dominated by bitcoin, mainly due to its benefits as a universal currency, not subject to forex and other charges. In addition, the fact that bitcoin transactions across borders are nearly instantaneous and inexpensive works in its favor as well.
Even though, bitcoin has not caught up with tourists yet, the day is not far when travelers will prefer using bitcoin instead of travelers checks while travelling. Felix Weis, a 27-year-old programmer from Luxembourg, a small European country has already proven that one can easily manage to travel across the world with just bitcoins. Felix Weis has been on a journey across the world, funded only with bitcoin. He does not carry fiat currency with him maybe except for some spare change left from fiat currency he received after exchanging bitcoin. According to Felix Weis, there were few instances where he had to exchange bitcoin for fiat to pay in places where they refused to accept bitcoin (few rare cases). He has documented the trip on his blog, sharing his experiences with bitcoin lovers across the world.
Not many travelers are aware of bitcoin and its benefits. Hence, they opt for traditional fiat currency and credit cards while travelling. Bitcoin can offer many advantages to travelers, some of them are listed below-
Currency Conversion: Almost all countries in the world have their own currency, requiring tourists to exchange currency in their possession to that of the country they are visiting. Bitcoin being a universal currency can save a lot of time when it comes to exchanging currencies etc.
Bank Fee: Using ATMs in a foreign country to withdraw cash is a costly affair. Banks charge about $1 to $3 per transaction along with forex charge etc. However, it is not the issue with bitcoin as it can be used in the same form anywhere and it knows no boundaries.
Avoid Fraud: Imagine losing all your money in a foreign land, this is the worst scenario one can imagine. Using credit and debit cards in an unknown place is generally not advisable as every time you swipe a card, you will be sharing your payment information with the merchant which it increases the risk of fraud. However, with bitcoin there are no such issues. Bitcoin payments are secure and needs to be authorized by the wallet owner. Tourists can use bitcoin without worrying about being overcharged or someone stealing their credit card information and misusing it in a foreign country
All these factors point towards the advantages of using bitcoin while travelling, and it is not that hard too, as there are platforms that allow tourists to use bitcoin while travelling, right from flight tickets to booking a hotel, from food to shopping and more.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Adventures of Felix Weis