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Per Bloomberg, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is working with regulators and a local cryptocurrency exchange to make it easier for crypto holders to spend their digital assets in the country. Next year, according to TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn, the authority will set up a new unit to issue its own cryptocurrency, develop a wallet, and build a new tourism ecosystem.

Yuthasak told the outlet that people who have “become wealthy from holding digital currencies” may now be looking to spend it. He added that “if they can use their currencies here without having to exchange it, or be faced with government taxes, then it would create convenience for them.”

Yuthasak said that embracing crypto would help the country in its bid to recover pre-pandemic tourism levels, saying that, “Crypto is the future, so we must make Thailand a crypto-positive society to welcome this group of quality tourists,” According to Statista, the number of international tourist arrivals plunged from 39.8 million in 2019 to just 6.7 million in 2020.

Tourism’s contribution to Thailand’s GDP accordingly dropped from 18.21% in 2019 to 6.78% in 2020.