Spending in the UK with Visa cards totalled £7.4 billion in the first full week of the London 2012 Olympics. This was up 3.4% on the previous week, helping to scotch predictions that the Games would be bad for spending.
However, the figures from official sponsor Visa are no doubt helped by the fact that the card scheme is the only one accepted by shops, bars and restaurants at Olympic venues, meaning vendors can't accept payment by MasterCard or American Express.
Given this advantage, it's surprising that spending is only up by £200 million on the same week last year.
Spend, spend, spend
The huge surge in overseas visitors to the UK for London 2012 means spending on Visa cards by international visitors last week was £457 million, an 8% increase on the same week in 2011.
Visa Europe commercial director Steve Perry said: "There was plenty to cheer about in the first full week of the Games. It would appear that visitors are out celebrating the success of their athletes in some style, with restaurant spending up by almost a fifth."
Spending by foreign visitors in clubs was up by almost a quarter (24%) from a year ago to £2.1 million last week.
US comes first
Top of the podium for spending on cards in the first week of the Olympics were visitors from the US, who splashed out £58 million, 12.7% of the total spending by visitors to the UK.
Japanese visitors took the silver with £30 million of spending. The average Visa transaction by an overseas visitor was £58.15 - the typical British spend was £41.78. The Japanese had the largest average transaction of £81.67.
Spending by overseas visitors during the Games in Britain is predicted to smash the last three Olympics' records in Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, where foreign visitors to China spent just £93 million.
Despite predictions that London's restaurants and other attractions would be empty, the Visa figures show that spending on theatre tickets and other ticket sales rose by 114% last week, helped by last minute deals and also by additional tickets for the Olympics going on sale.
Source:
insurancedaily.co.uk
