Tourist spending on Visa in Asia Pacific grows 14 percent

Visa International announced today that tourists spent US$14 billion using its payment cards in Asia Pacific during 2002, an increase of 14 percent compared to the year before. Approximately 50 percent of the total spending was generated by tourists from Asia Pacific countries and 30 percent by those from European Union. The top five merchant categories were hotels, retail and  departmental stores, travel agents, restaurants and duty free stores.

Australia reported the highest tourist spending on Visa cards (US$2.9 billion, 14 percent growth over the year before), followed by Hong Kong (US$1.9 billion, 13 percent growth), Thailand (US$1.7 billion, 16 percent growth), Japan (US$1.1 billion, 17 percent growth), Singapore (US$1 billion, 8 percent growth), New Zealand (US$865 million, 29 percent growth), Korea (US$764  million, 11 percent growth) and China (US$614 million, 46 percent growth).

Despite the Bali incident, Visa card spending by international tourists in Asia Pacific peaked during the last quarter of 2002, reaching US$4 billion, 22 percent higher than the same period in 2001.

The increase on spending using Visa cards compared favorably with official tourism statistics which reported that tourist arrivals grew by 7.9 percent in 2002(1) and forecast increase of 4.8 percent a year over the next two years(2).

Rajiv Kapoor, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Product Sales for Visa Asia Pacific, said, "Despite politically and economically trying times in 2002, international tourism showed again how resilient and stable this sector can be. Visa's latest figures are additional proof that Asia Pacific remains an  attractive region for international travelers, especially from within the region.

"Visa believes that collaboration between public and private sectors is critical for tourism growth. Visa card spending is a key contributor to tourism receipts, representing an average of 15 percent of all tourism receipts earned in Asia Pacific, according to figures from the World Tourism Organization. In some countries, as much as 30 percent of all inbound tourism receipts are on  Visa cards. Visa has been working closely with the region's tourism bodies to promote inbound tourism and launched more than 50 programs in 2002 with tourism offices, international hotel groups and merchants to boost tourist spend."

Kapoor continued, "In most destinations, tourist spend on Visa cards is growing much faster than visitor arrivals. This can be attributed to the effectiveness of Visa's inbound tourism programs such as "Discover Thailand with Visa", "Amazing Thailand Grand Sale", "Great Singapore Sale" and "Visa Best Merchants in Korea", giving Visa cardholders superior benefits and  privileges over other forms of payment when they travel. We consistently see tourist card spend hitting a peak in these destinations during the months when major Visa promotions are running."

With 1.2 billion cards issued and acceptance at 30 million merchant locations and 810,000 ATMs worldwide, Visa is the global leader in payment cards and  the most popular card for international travel.

Within Asia Pacific, the number of Visa cards has grown by 20 percent to more than 365 million by end of September 2002. In some emerging markets such as China, India, Thailand and Malaysia, the number of Visa cards grew between 50 and 100 percent, allowing more consumers to enjoy the benefits of using Visa during their overseas travel. In June, Visa launched the first International Travel Card in China specially catering to the travel needs of the 16 million Chinese outbound travelers every year.

Wide acceptance is a key consideration for international travelers when using payment cards. Visa's latest quarterly Global Brand Monitor consumer research indicates that around 50 percent of consumers consistently rate Visa as the best card for international travel and merchant acceptance worldwide(3). By the end of 2002, travelers can conveniently use their Visa cards at 15 million merchant locations in Asia Pacific.

China was the destination achieving highest growth of 46 percent in international visitor card spend, reflecting the surge of leisure and business  travel into China and Visa's efforts in expanding merchant acceptance in the main cities. As the official worldwide sponsor of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, Visa is actively working with financial institutions and merchants in China to facilitate international card acceptance for overseas visitors.

In August, Visa launched an "Authorized Merchants Program" with the Shanghai Municipal Tourist Association and Bank of China. A first for Visa in China, the program covers over 100 Visa merchants as preferred restaurants, hotels and entertainment and recreation outlets for overseas visitors, where they can enjoy the convenience of using Visa cards and English language services.

In terms of outbound travel, Visa Asia Pacific cardholders remain avid travelers, being the largest spenders within the region. In 2002, Asia Pacific tourists spent US$6 billion on their Visa cards traveling within the region, an  increase of 12 percent compared to the year before. Majority of the spending was made by cardholders from Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan and Singapore, while the fast growing outbound travel markets of China and India were seeing steep surges from 30 to more than 100 percent in  card spending overseas.

In 2003, Visa will continue with its active inbound tourism promotion in Asia Pacific and establish global alliances with new partners such as The Walt Disney Company, Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia and Accor hotel and travel group. From February 2003 to end of the year, Visa is launching a new regional travel program "Visa Great Breaks Southeast Asia 2003", in  partnership with the national tourism offices and travel industries of ASEAN countries. "Visa Great Breaks" promotes one ASEAN destination per month by offering cardholders exclusive travel packages and other shopping and dining privileges.

Visa International 

Visa-branded cards are used to purchase over US$2.4 trillion worth of goods and services every year and are accepted at more than 30 million merchant locations and over 810,000 ATMs in more than 150 countries.

Visa Asia Pacific

There are currently more than 365 million Visa cards in the region. During the four quarters ended 30 September 2002, US$606 billion was spent in Asia Pacific using Visa cards, an increase of 35 percent over the previous year.

Note:

(1) World Tourism Organization, 27 January 2003 announcement.

(2) Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Pacific Asia Tourism Forecasts 2002-2004.

(3) Visa Asia Pacific, Global Brand Monitor Q3, 2002.