JEDDAH — Middle East visitors spent over $5.7 million during the 32-day 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, said Visa Inc., the leader in global payments, in its final Visa Everywhere Travel Report. Fans from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar made up 70 percent of the total Middle Eastern spend from June 12-July 13, 2014. This represents a 400 percent increase in year-over-year spending by Middle Eastern visitors compared to the same period in 2013. Visa accountholders spent $380 million in Brazil during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, an international spend increase of 143 percent. Visitors spent the most in lodging ($55.5 million), retail ($47.7 million) and restaurants ($40.5 million). The UAE was ranked the 27th largest spending nation in the Visa Everywhere Travel Report. Saudi Arabia and Qatar were ranked 47th and 49th respectively. During the 32- day event, Visa cardholders from the UAE spent $2.5 million, Saudi Arabia spent $840,000 and Qatar spent $639,000. All countries witnessed triple-digit increases in international spend compared to the same period in 2013 - UAE (+243 percent), Saudi Arabia (+700 percent) and Qatar (+276 percent). Visitors from the United States, United Kingdom, France, finalist Argentina, Mexico and FIFA World Cup champions Germany were the six top spending countries during the FIFA World Cup. “The global attraction of the FIFA World Cup and the growing confidence and understanding of the convenience and security of electronic payments supported an influx of tourism spending in Brazil,” said Ihab Ayoub General Manager, Middle East and North Africa at Visa. “As a proud sponsor of FIFA and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, Visa was able to partner with clients, merchants and financial institutions in Brazil to provide a safe, convenient and reliable payment infrastructure for our regional cardholders to enjoy their time in Brazil and add to the color and passion of this hugely successful event,” he added. Visa worked with partner organizations and service providers in Brazil to implement and manage the entire payment system infrastructure throughout all FIFA World Cup venues, including the deployment of more than 3,000 Visa contactless-enabled point-of-sale terminals and 75 ATMs. — SG
