The implications of virtual money on travel and tourism

Abstract

We obtain daily data of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Travala token, Kemacoin and Guider to investigate the implications of history's most famous five heists on travel and tourism. We find a statistically significant spillover effect in the cryptocurrency and tourism token markets with a limited impact on travel and tourism companies' stock prices. We also find evidence of herding behaviour and observe that overall market quality deteriorated because of the heists. To deal with these negative implications, we propose implementing tools based on artificial intelligence algorithms, emphasising the two leading cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin and Ethereum. Tracking major crypto wallets and ‘whales’ can help regulators identify potential hacks and mitigate systemic risk caused by spillovers in cryptocurrency markets.