Visitors to UK spending 15.7% more, says Visa

Thursday, 09 May, 2002 0

Visa UK transaction figures reveal that foreign travellers are spending more on their payment cards in the UK than ever before.

Over £1.27 billion was spent by foreign travellers in the UK on Visa payment cards between Jan-March 2002 – an increase of 15.7% on the same period in 2001.

The biggest spenders were the Americans, who spent almost £400m, an increase of 19.1% year on year – and over four times more than any other nation. This is, Visa suggests, an early optimistic indication that American confidence in travelling has returned following the tragic events of 11 September.

Other significant increases in UK spending have been seen by travellers from Ireland, who spent 42.7% more than in the first three months of the year, Hong Kong, (up 39.8%)
and Canada (up 22.2%). In fact visitors from Asia Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Latin America all spent more than in the same period last year.

Only a few nations appear to be spending less in the UK. These include South Africa (which showed a year on year decrease in UK spending of 21.3%), Zimbabwe (down 89%) and Argentina (down 67%), all of which have suffered currency devaluation throughout the period.

Commenting on these results, Colin Grannell, Managing Director, Visa UK said: “Visa has a 60% share of the global card payments market, so these figures provide a good indicator of who is travelling to the UK and their real spending patterns.

“We are seeing increases in both the total value of transactions and the total number of transactions. This seems to challenge the gloomy outlook for British tourism that some have portrayed. Such high increases in spending, at a traditionally quiet time of year, is clearly good news for British retailers and the tourist industry and bodes well for the Summer months”.

The Top 10 countries for visitor spending in the UK are:

1. USA: Jan-Mar 2002: £398.9m; Jan-Mar 2001: £335.0m;
= 19.1% increase.
2. Rep of Ireland: Jan-Mar 2002 £90.4m; Jan-Mar 2001 £63.4m;
= 42.7% increase
3. Japan: Jan-Mar 2002 £82.5m; Jan-Mar 2001 £76.0m;
= 8.5% increase
4. France: Jan-Mar 2002 £73.6m; Jan – Mar 2001 £70.8m;
= 3.9% increase
5. Hong Kong: Jan-Mar 2002 £45.8m; Jan – Mar 2001 £32.8m
= 39.8% increase
6. Australia: Jan-Mar 2002 £45.1m; Jan – Mar 2001 £43.8m;
= 2.9% increase
7. Canada: Jan-Mar 2002 £40.8m; Jan – Mar 2001 £33.4m;
= 22.2% increase
8. Italy: Jan-Mar 2002 £40.2m; Jan – Mar 2001 £38.7m;
= 3.9% increase
9. Spain: Jan-Mar 2002 £40.2m; Jan – Mar 2001 £35.0m;
= 14.6% increase
10. Germany: Jan-Mar 2002 £39.1m; Jan – Mar 2001 £37.9m;
= 3.1% increase