FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 20, 2013-- According to the 2012 Travel Snapshots released today by Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), Visa account holders continued packing their bags as aggressively as they did in 2011. According to VisaVue® Travel data, spending by Visa account holders traveling to Brazil, Canada, Mexico and United States jumped six percent to $57 billion compared to 2011.

VisaVue Travel Data Spending Highlights

• China knocked the U.K. out of the top three inbound countries traveling to the U.S. for the first time since 2009 – increasing travel spend by 30 percent compared to 2011.
• Visa account holders from Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. showed more interest in Japan, boosting tourism spend in the country by an average of 25 percent ($948M in 2012).
• Visa account holders in Africa dramatically increased travel spending in the U.S. in 2012 by 17 percent, spending $585M on their Visa accounts. In fact, 80 percent of African countries with Visa account holders who traveled to the U.S. experienced double-digit growth in tourism spending in 2012.

“Tourism is a driver of economic growth, and Visa works closely with governments and tourism entities to seamlessly connect merchants and Visa account holders,” said Nick Talwar (@NickTalwar), head of North America Consumer Credit, Visa Inc. “For the past two years, we’ve seen an upward trend in international travel spend. And as it becomes easier for international travelers to safely pay for goods and services using electronic payments, more countries will experience the economic benefits that international travel brings to their overall revenues.”

Visa’s suite of travel products and services advances the value and reach of electronic payments as a key component of sustainable global tourism. Visa products offer account holders peace of mind in knowing they have the ability to make purchases at tens of millions of merchants worldwide, access to local currencies at more than 1.9 million ATMs, the protection of Visa’s Zero Liability Policy¹ for fraudulent transactions and a range of travel perks and benefits which can save time and money.

To view complete copies of the 2012 Visa Travel Snapshot reports for the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, click here Visa Tourism media kit.

For more information on Visa’s full suite of travel products and tips for international travel payment, visit www.visa.com/travel.

About VisaVue^® Travel Data

Visa cardholder spend data cited is based upon VisaVue Travel data. Visa introduced the VisaVue Travel tourism reporting product to U.S. tourism organizations in 2008 and has continued to provide reports to the industry on a variety of popular tourist destinations every year. For more information on VisaVue Travel and Visa's products focused on the tourism industry, please contact the VisaVue Product Office at VisaVueTravel@Visa.com.

Data included in the 2012 reports includes spending on Visa-branded payment cards by international visitors from key source countries during the calendar year 2012 (Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2012) and includes travel spend in Visa Europe.

About Visa

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s most advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 24,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit corporate.visa.com.

¹ Visa's Zero Liability policy covers U.S.-issued cards only and does not apply to ATM transactions, PIN transactions not processed by Visa, or certain commercial card transactions. Cardholder must notify issuer promptly of any unauthorized use. Consult issuer for additional details or visit www.visa.com/security.

Source: Visa Inc.

Visa Inc.
Sarah Pew, 650-432-7917
globalmedia@visa.com