Travel spending has climbed to pre-recession levels, according to the most recent VisaVue Travel data.
"Visa account holders from these countries (US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil) continued to increase spend on international travel-related purchases from 2010 to 2011, building momentum toward pre-recession levels," the study found.
Travelers from the United States increased tourism spend on their Visa accounts by 7%, those from Canada by 11%, and Mexico by 19%. Travelers from Brazil were in first place, however, by increasing their international travel spend on their Visa accounts by 32% overall in 2011 — 43% of which was in the United States.
"Visa works closely with governments and tourism entities to connect merchants to the more than 2.3 billion Visa global account holders and provides a convenient, secure and reliable payment experience for international travelers," said Ava Kelly, head of global affluent and cross border initiatives at Visa Inc.
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories, the company says.
By David Wilkening
