22 Jun, 2014
Visa Report: Int’l Visitors Spent $27M on Visa Card During World Cup Opening Weekend
SAO PAULO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–June 18, 2014 – Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), the leader in global payments, today released the Visa Everywhere Travel Report for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, which analyzes travel data and cross border spend on all Visa products, including credit, debit and prepaid payment cards.
During the four-day opening period of the tournament (June 12 – June 15, 2014), Visa found that international visitors spent more than US$27M on their Visa accounts. This represents a 73 percent increase over the same four-day period in 2013, and 47 percent more when compared to the opening four-day period of the Confederations Cup (June 15 –June, 18 2013), where travelers spent nearly US$18.5M.
Visitors from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, France, and Mexico represented the largest overall tourist spend in Brazil during the four-day period. On Saturday, June 14, 2014 alone international travelers to Brazil spent more than US$10.7M using Visa products. This was the highest tourist spend day in the country in 2014.
“These numbers reflect the significant impact that mega sporting events like the World Cup can have in boosting local commerce in host market economies,” said Ruben Osta, Visa Inc. country manager, Brazil. “This positive trend aligns with Brazil’s expectation that more than 600,000 international travelers may visit the country during this event — ultimately boosting the country’s economy.”
Travelers from ten countries made up 65 percent of the total spend in Brazil, with four countries — Australia (+675%), Colombia (+418%), Mexico (+204%) and United Kingdom (+101%) –showing triple-digit increases compared to spend during the same four-day period in 2013.
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Top 10 Country Contributors to Spend in Brazil on Visa Accounts: (June 12-June 15) |
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Ranking |
Country/Territory |
Total Spend (USD) |
Year over Year Growth |
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| 1 | United States | $6.6M | 55.5% | ||||||
| 2 | United Kingdom | $2.3M | 101.3% | ||||||
| 3 | France | $1.7M | 36.8% | ||||||
| 4 | Mexico | $1.3M | 204.2% | ||||||
| 5 | Angola | $1.2M | 78.6% | ||||||
| 6 | Argentina | $1.2M | 32% | ||||||
| 7 | Germany | $1M | 95.6% | ||||||
| 8 | Australia | $969K | 675.2% | ||||||
| 9 | Colombia | $858K | 418% | ||||||
| 10 | Spain | $689K | 7.7% | ||||||
Visitors spent the most in categories such as lodging and accommodation, which accounted for US$5M, and in local restaurants at US$2.5M.
“As a proud sponsor of FIFA and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, Visa has partnered with clients, merchants and financial institutions in Brazil to provide a safe, convenient and reliable payment infrastructure for international visitors to enjoy their time in Brazil and cheer on their team and country,” said Osta. “As a partner for tourism and economic growth, Visa is making it easier for everyone, everywhere, to be a part of the FIFA World Cup – whether it’s at any of the 12 FIFA World Cup venues or by using one of the 1.4 million contactless payment terminals available throughout the country.”
Visa has worked with partner organizations and service providers in Brazil to implement and manage the entire payment system infrastructure throughout all FIFA World Cup venues, including deployment of more than 3,000 Visa contactless-enabled point-of-sale terminals and 75 ATMs.
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