FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the Global Travel Intentions Study 2013 by Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), U.S. travelers crave culture, are tech savvy and plan to significantly increase their travel budget on their next international trip. Findings revealed that travelers plan to spend 40 percent more on their next international trip compared to their last trip, opposed to travelers outside the U.S. who plan to increase travel spend by just 4.6 percent. More than half of U.S. travelers surveyed plan and book their trips using online review and booking sites and 38 percent choose destinations rich in cultural experiences.
“Americans have a zest for travel and exploration and these survey results hint at a growing appetite to increase travel budgets,” said Nick Talwar, head of North American Credit at Visa Inc. “With increased spending budgets and the desire to manage expenses, traveling with an electronic form of payment is becoming just as important as a passport.”
Leaving Cash at Home
U.S. travelers are more likely than their global counterparts to use credit cards while traveling internationally (81 percent versus 74 percent) and, citing cash as cumbersome to carry around, most bring minimal cash during trips. According to the study, having control over their expenditures and security are the top two reasons why U.S. travelers use cards (70 percent).
Results show that Americans enjoy treating themselves while on vacation, with dining (29 percent) and retail (24 percent) accounting for the majority of travel spend.
The Internet = Travel Agent
In an increasingly always-on society, U.S. travelers rely heavily on the Web for planning their travel (79 percent versus 71 percent of international respondents). The differences increase during the booking phase, when Americans are about 20 percent more likely to use online sources than their global counterparts. Americans cited travel review websites and service provider websites and other online sources as their most trusted online resources, with the ability to compare prices as the most important factor in selecting what site to book through.
Picking a Destination
When choosing a travel destination, Americans place priority on the area’s rich culture (38 percent) and good weather (32 percent). Based on these decisions, it’s no surprise that U.S. travelers have their sights set on trusted regional destinations, like Mexico, for their next trip. While good weather is also top of mind for non-U.S. travelers when seeking out their next travel adventure (34 percent), the demands of their budget ranks second on the priority list (31 percent).
To learn more about the study and download infographics, visit Visa’s Online Tourism Media Kit.
About Visa Inc.
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 30,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit corporate.visa.com.
About Visa’s Global Travel Intentions Study 2013
The Visa Global Travel Intentions Study 2013 was commissioned by Visa to Millward Brown. Fieldwork was conducted between November and December 2012. It was based on online and offline surveys with 12,631 travelers aged 18 and above, across 25 markets in Asia Pacific (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand), Europe (France, Germany, Russia, U.K.), Africa & Middle East (Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE), and the Americas (Brazil, Canada, Mexico, USA).
