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2010 FIFA World Cup Provides $45 Million Boost to South African Economy

Travel News Asia Latest Travel News Podcasts Videos Thursday, 24 June 2010

The South African economy has seen an initial boost in visitor spending related to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, according to new cardholder spending data from Visa.

During the period leading up to the kickoff of the FIFA World Cup and the first week of tournament matches (1 June through 20 June), spending by international visitors in South Africa on Visa-branded payment cards exceeded US$128 million (R974 million), up 54% from US$83 million (R629 million) during the same period in 2009.

 The number of transactions from 1 June through 20 June was 900,000 (45,000 per day on average), up 60% from nearly 600,000 (30,000 a day on average) during the same 20 days in 2009.

The money spent by international visitors on their Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards on the first ten days of the FIFA World Cup (Friday, June 11 through Sunday, June 20) alone showed an increase of 81% over the same period in 2009.

Visa spending data indicates that the United Kingdom, followed by the United States, Australia, France and Brazil have been the strongest contributors to tourism spending to date. These five countries alone accounted for 51% of spending.

 Over 90% of spending was in typical leisure and business travel categories - accommodation, restaurants, retail, auto rental and air travel.

"You can see it for yourself on the streets and in the shopping malls of the nine host cities and now we’re seeing the real-time data. The international visitors have come and they are spending with their Visa cards. The spending is spread right across the 120,000 merchants that accept Visa in South Africa," said Michael Lynch, Global Head of Sponsorship Management at Visa Inc. "The sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa is working extremely well for Visa with promotional activities occurring in close to 100 countries, involving 500 financial institutions and merchants. We also have approximately 4,000 competition prize winners coming to South Africa for the tournament and the first waves of those have had a great experience."

According to the 2010 South Africa Tourism Outlook report recently released by Visa, international travelers using their Visa payment cards spent over US$1.79 billion while visiting South Africa during 2009 and $566 million during the first quarter of 2010.

Visa is one of six global FIFA partners with exclusive global category rights through 2014, and is the exclusive card for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In recognition of Visa’s sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards are the only payment cards accepted, along with cash, at all FIFA stadiums and the Onsite Stadium Merchandise Booths.

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