According to the 2012 Travel Snapshots released by Visa Inc. Visa account holders continued packing their bags as aggressively as they did in 2011. According to VisaVue® Travel data, spending by Visa account holders traveling to Brazil, Canada, Mexico and United States jumped six percent to $57 billion compared to 2011.

VisaVue Travel Data Spending Highlights

 • China knocked the U.K. out of the top three inbound countries traveling to the U.S. for the first time since 2009 – increasing travel spend by 30 percent compared to 2011.
• Visa account holders from Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. showed more interest in Japan, boosting tourism spend in the country by an average of 25 percent ($948M in 2012).
• Visa account holders in Africa dramatically increased travel spending in the U.S. in 2012 by 17 percent, spending $585M on their Visa accounts. In fact, 80 percent of African countries with Visa account holders who traveled to the U.

S. experienced double-digit growth in tourism spending in 2012.

“Tourism is a driver of economic growth, and Visa works closely with governments and tourism entities to seamlessly connect merchants and Visa account holders,” said Nick Talwar (@NickTalwar), head of North America Consumer Credit, Visa Inc. “For the past two years, we’ve seen an upward trend in international travel spend. And as it becomes easier for international travelers to safely pay for goods and services using electronic payments, more countries will experience the economic benefits that international travel brings to their overall revenues.

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Visa, www.visa.com/travel