Visa cardholders increase their travel spending in 2012
According to 2012 VisaVue Travel data, tourism to Canada continues to see growth as well as a slight increase in travel-related spending. Visa account holders visiting Canada increased their spend over 2011 from $6.6 billion to $6.66 billion. The top five inbound source countries remained the same with the United States leading the pack. China made some impressive moves jumping from fourth place to second in terms of spend within Canada with Chinese Visa account holders spending $379 million on their Visa accounts in 2012 – an increase of 15.2%. Not surprisingly, travellers tended to visit Canada in the warmer months from June to September. Canadian Visa account holders increased their spend on their Visa accounts outside of the country by nearly 3% to $16.4 billion in 2012. Canadian Visa account holders spent the most while travelling to the US ($11 billion), Mexico ($591 million) and the U.K. ($477 million). Japan also became a popular destination for Canadian travellers in 2012, with Visa account holders increasing their spending by 18.9% to $64 million in 2012 – the largest spending increase within the top 25 travel destinations. Similar to last year, Canadian Visa account holders preferred to travel internationally in a variety of months, with March, February and August being the most popular months to venture across international borders. (http://www.Corporate.Visa.com)
