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).
