Visa cardholders spend US$188M in Brazil in 12 Cities During Group
Stage of Tournament
SÃO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), the global leader in payments, today released the
second installment of the Visa Everywhere Travel Report for
the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. The report, which analyzes travel data
and spending through the use of Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards,
found that some smaller Brazilian cities, which are hosting tournament
games, realized some of the most significant increases in spending by
international travelers.
Data through the Group Stage of the tournament, which includes opening
day (June 12) through the close of the Group Stage (June 26), revealed
triple-digit increases in spending, compared to the same period last
year, in cities such as Natal (+851%); Cuiaba (+963%); Curitiba (+167%);
and Manaus (+409%).
“The group stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil has shown that
international tourism was strong well beyond the cities of Rio de
Janeiro and São Paulo, as fans traveled throughout Brazil to support
their teams,” said Ricardo Fort, SVP Global Sponsorship Marketing,
Visa Inc. “The fact that these games are bringing positive economic
impact to regions of Brazil typically less visited by international
travelers, is another sign of success for the tournament overall.”
Total Spending Hits Record Levels
Total spend by international travelers on Visa accounts through the
Group Stage hit US$188M. This represents a 152 percent increase
year-over-year, and a 141 percent increase when compared to the US$78M
spent by travelers attending the 2013 FIFA Confederations CupTM
during the same timeframe. The highest spending day in the 2014 FIFA
World Cup Brazil was June 25, when travelers spent US$17.4M in one day.
Visitors from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, France,
and Mexico represented the largest overall tourist spend in Brazil. The
most significant spending increases were seen from countries such as
Australia (+835%); Colombia (+765%); Chile (+519%) and Mexico (+396%).
“As the FIFA World Cup continues in July, Visa will continue to help
everyone, everywhere, be a part of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil,” said
Fort.
Visa has worked with partner organizations and service providers in
Brazil to implement and manage the entire payment system infrastructure
throughout all 12 FIFA World Cup venues, including deployment of more
than 3,000 Visa contactless-enabled point-of-sale terminals and 75 ATMs.
For more information on Visa travel products and tips for international
travel payment, visit www.visa.com/fifamediakit.com.
About Visa Inc.:
Visa is a global digital payments network 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 47,000
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.
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 “Everywhere Travel Report: FIFA World Cup Brazil”
includes spending on Visa-branded payment cards by international
visitors from key source countries during the calendar year 2014 (June
12 – 26, 2014).
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Source: Visa Inc.