The South African economy has received a kick during the first few weeks of the World Cup tournament.
Statistics released by Visa on Tuesday show that spending by international visitors in South Africa on Visa-branded payment cards exceeded US$176 million (R1.33 billion), up 65 percent from US$107 million (R810 million) during the same period in 2009. The number of transactions from 1 June through 25 June was 1.3 million (51,000 per day on average), up 74 percent from approximately 730,000 (29,000 a day on average) during the same 25 days in 2009.
Visa spending data indicates that the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil and France have been the strongest contributors to tourism spending to date. These five countries alone accounted for 47 percent of spending. Over 90 percent of spending was in typical leisure and business travel categories - accommodation, restaurants, retail, auto rental and air travel.
Andy Gilder, general manager for Justmoney.co.za says that credit cards have been popular with the well travelled for some time.
“The convenience and safety of a card over cash is tough to beat when travelling the globe. There are occasions when vendors will charge you a little extra to use a card ahead of cash, but knowing that your money is safe, avoiding the hassle of constantly cashing travellers cheques and the added benefits of things like insurance on purchases make credit cards great options for the experienced traveller.”
“Companies like Visa also offers pre-loaded cards for those who are worried about overspending - fantastically convenient for the budget traveller. There will always be withdrawal costs involved, but unlike foreign exchange there are no commissions payable and the convenience of a worldwide network of ATM’s are a great for most destinations.”
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