World Cup 2023 leads to 12.5% surge in contactless cross border transactions, reveals Visa Report
Visa has unwrapped an overview of payment trends observed during recently concluded ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.
As per Visa’s data, there has been a 12.5% growth in contactless cross border transactions during the World Cup as compared to July 2023, before the festive season began.
36% of the cross-border transactions in India were contactless, 2X of the total domestic contactless transactions. Further, according to Visa, the average stay of the international audience during the world cup was 11 days whereas visitors from New Zealand stayed longer.
Sushmit Nath, head of visa consulting and analytics for India and South Asia said the high voltage Men’s Cricket World Cup, an ongoing festive season and Diwali have led to a spike in international travel to India, consequently having a positive effect on international as well as domestic consumer spends.
«This impact is clearly demonstrated through Visa's insightful data analysis and payment trends seen in this period. The World Cup reaffirms cricket as a defining cultural moment for the country and for international visitors and tourists.
Our data has helped observe this phenomenon at close quarters and we intend to continue offering such insights into the dynamic consumer and payments landscape,» he added.
The lure of seeing top cricketing nations on the field during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup proved to be a powerful motivator, triggering a travel boom in India, as per Visa.
The company said the impact of major sporting and cultural events on travel demand is a global phenomenon, witnessed earlier this year in the record turnout for the UEFA Final in Istanbul, or the remarkable surge in room rates for Taylor Swift tours. The return of the World Cup Cricket
