Fans not shy of flashing credit cards

This is according to new cardholder spending data from payment card company Visa released on Wednesday.

During the period leading up to the kickoff of the tournament and the first week of tournament matches (June 1 to June 20), spending by international visitors in South Africa on Visa-branded cards exceeded $128m (R974m), up 54% from $83m (R629m) during the same period in 2009.

The number of transactions from June 1 to June 20 was 900 000 (45 000 per day on average), up 60% from nearly 600 000 (30 000 a day on average) during the same 20 days in 2009.

The money spent by international visitors on their credit, debit and prepaid cards on the first 10 days of the World Cup (June 11 to June 20) alone showed an increase of 81% over the same period in 2009.

Visa spending data indicated that the United Kingdom, followed by the United States, Australia, France and Brazil had been the strongest contributors to tourism spending to date. These five countries alone accounted for 51% of spending.

Over 90% of spending was in typical leisure and business travel categories - accommodation, restaurants, retail, auto rental and air travel.

"You can see it for yourself on the streets and in the shopping malls of the nine host cities and now we're seeing the real-time data. The international visitors have come and they are spending," the company's sponsorship management head Michael Lynch said in a statement.

  - Sapa