A host of Web3 companies have teamed up with Austrian regional groups to roll out “Web3 tours” in Salzburg and elsewhere.
Alex Fedosseev of 1World, which was part of the partnership, said tourists can go to museums and verify their presence with NFTs, which can then be used for discounts at restaurants and entertainment venues.
It’s not the first attempt to capture crypto-inspired tourism. Travelers looking to transact with digital assets can already visit Bitcoin Beach, Bitcoin Island, Bitcoin Valley or Bitcoin Lake. But newer Web3 tourism projects are expanding beyond the realm of digital payments.
George Harrap out The next billion podcast flew to the Pacific island of Palau to interview the archipelago’s president about its NFT ID card system. In the travel vlog Harrap released this week documenting the trip, Palauan officials say the digital residency program is aimed at attracting tourists and digital nomads. And as a dollar-based economy in the South Pacific, Palau hopes to become cashless.
“Who wants to send pennies to Palau?” asked Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. to Harrap.
Palau is developing a stablecoin with Ripple.
Fedosseev told Blockworks that blockchain allows for more direct interactions between businesses and tourists in a field saturated with middlemen.
In a recent interview with Forbes, El Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa argued that the ease of transactions promoted by the use of bitcoin is partly responsible for the growth of tourism in the country. A Santander report, tweeted by the country’s president, Nayib Bukele, does report growth in tourism to El Salvador – although the report points to falling murder rates and not bitcoin as a catalyst.
Read more: Stablecoins are “a better product” than local currencies in emerging economies, Carrica says
A new way of tattooing
Austin, Texas-based Blackdot released an automated tattoo device this week, and the company plans to let customers own tattoos as NFTs in the future.
The company is also teasing “tradable tattoos,” which will allow tattoos to be inked and then traded or gifted as digital collectibles.
Blackdot’s store is currently offering a range of off-chain tattoos that will fetch thousands of dollars for those who want to try out the automated needle. Among the tattoo artists mentioned is Tyler Hobbs, whose generative artwork has earned him nearly 63,000 ether (ETH) on OpenSea – although Hobbs has only sold one NFT in the past month and a half.
Also important:
- Friend.tech’s sales volume is starting to outpace buying volume as the platform’s mid-September rally subsides
- While early movers in the space continue to disappoint, transactions on metaverse platform SecondLive have grown 139% over the past 30 days, according to DappRadar, as users await the launch of the platform’s LIVE token.
- GameFi platform Big Time saw its native token rise by more than 250% after listing on OKX and Coinbase. The game also sold a limited quantity of 1,000 “mystery boxes” within a minute for $750 each.
