Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Payment card group Visa said on Wednesday spending by its foreign clients visiting South Africa in the lead-up and during the 2010 FIFA World Cup totalled R2.4bn.
The figure excludes spending by the holders of other payment card groups like Mastercard and American Express.
Visa said the spending by its clients represented an increase of 70% compared to the same period in 2009.
About 2.2 million payments were made from June 1 to July 11 - 55 000 per day on average.
Visa highlighted that the United States (19.05%), followed by the United Kingdom (19.03%), Australia (4.7%), Brazil (4.2%) and France (3.4%), were the strongest contributors to visitor spending to date.
These five countries alone accounted for 51% of spending, the group said.
Over 90% of spending was in typical leisure and business travel categories - accommodation, restaurants, retail, auto rental and air travel, Visa said.
The biggest spenders from the African continent were Mozambique (R61m), Botswana (R56m) and Angola (R49m).
"The World Cup has been an outstanding success for football and for South Africa," said Visa chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio. "It has definitely been a spectacular success for the local economy and businesses. The foreign visitors came in force and spent in force."
- I-Net Bridge
The figure excludes spending by the holders of other payment card groups like Mastercard and American Express.
Visa said the spending by its clients represented an increase of 70% compared to the same period in 2009.
About 2.2 million payments were made from June 1 to July 11 - 55 000 per day on average.
Visa highlighted that the United States (19.05%), followed by the United Kingdom (19.03%), Australia (4.7%), Brazil (4.2%) and France (3.4%), were the strongest contributors to visitor spending to date.
These five countries alone accounted for 51% of spending, the group said.
Over 90% of spending was in typical leisure and business travel categories - accommodation, restaurants, retail, auto rental and air travel, Visa said.
The biggest spenders from the African continent were Mozambique (R61m), Botswana (R56m) and Angola (R49m).
"The World Cup has been an outstanding success for football and for South Africa," said Visa chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio. "It has definitely been a spectacular success for the local economy and businesses. The foreign visitors came in force and spent in force."
- I-Net Bridge
