A sign that international travel has regained some of the momentum lost during the recession, new data from Visa Inc. shows that travelers going to and from the U.S. boosted their spending significantly last year.
Spending by international Visa cardholders traveling to the U.S. in 2010 increased 17.2%, to $34 billion from the previous year, according to the VisaVue Travel Data report released April 25.
Visa cardholders from the U.S. traveling overseas also boosted their spending abroad, but by a smaller amount: 6.9%, to $31 billion from a year earlier.
Canada led the way in international cardholder spending in the U.S., accounting for $9.2 billion spent, up 17.9%. Cardholders from the U.K. were second at $2.5 billion, up 8.7%, followed by Mexico at $2 billion, up 17.6%.
Other countries driving higher Visa cardholder spending last year in the U.S. included Brazil ($1.9 billion), Japan ($1.8 billion) China and Australia ($1.1 billion each), France ($1 billion), South Korea ($824 million) and Germany ($800 million).
The most-popular destinations in the U.S. last year for international visitors were Florida, New York, California, Texas and Nevada, with each state generating double-digit growth compared with 2009, Visa said.
U.S. Visa cardholders traveling to international destinations spent the most in Canada ($3.5 billion), followed by Mexico ($3.1 billion), the U.K. ($1.6 billion), Italy and France ($1.3 billion each), Germany and Puerto Rico ($1.1 billion each), China ($741 million), Spain ($731 million) and Japan ($659 million).
Introduced in 2008, VisaVue Travel Data helps tourism destinations plan for business and enables destinations to create targeted tourism marketing programs, William Sheedy, Visa group president of the Americas, said in a press release.
Many international cards use chip and PIN authentication but also have a magnetic stripe for travel to the U.S. and elsewhere.
