May to August 2011 Foreign consumer spending across six Mediterranean Rim countries, with a spotlight on France

September 2011

Year on year foreign consumer spending increases by 10.08% in May to August

Foreign consumer spending on Visa debit, credit and prepaid cards across the six Mediterranean Rim countries for the period May to August 2011 totalled 14.4bn, a year on year increase of 10.08% in foreign consumer spending compared to 13bn during the same period in 2010*. Table 1: Total foreign consumer spending across all six countries
13,061,715,528.04 14,379,349,614.26 Country France 2010 (May to August) 3,801,113,556.93 3,542,006,865.36 3,028,019,978.20 966,670,141.08 953,258,657.70 770,646,328.77 13,061,715,528.04 Visa Europe card data 2011 (May to August) 4,040,435,771.71 3,933,965,596.75 3,475,923,241.79 1,056,361,109.99 1,000,002,921.54 872,660,972.48 14,379,349,614.26

Of the six countries, France remains the destination which benefits from the highest level of foreign spend, topping 4bn in the May to August 2011 period, an increase of 6.3% year on year. Italy saw a welcome 14.8% increase in year on year foreign spending, rising from 3.02bn in the May to August 2010 period to 3.47bn in the same period in 2011. Table 3: Total foreign consumer spending in each of the six countries
Year on year % change 6.3 11.1 14.8 9.3 4.9 13.2 10.08

Total 2010 (May to August) 2011 (May to August) Source: Visa Europe card data

Across the six countries, two of the top ten foreign spenders saw a decline in their year on year spending the UK and Belgium, whilst the rest saw between 2.6% and 39.2% increase in year on year spending. Significant growth was evident in the spending of visitors from Russia, Germany and Switzerland. The UK continues to top the table of the top ten spenders across all six countries, with UK visitors spending 2.4bn for the period May to August 2011. However this level of spend was down -0.9% year on year. Table 2: The top ten foreign spenders across all six Mediterranean rim countries
Year on year % change -0.9 9.3 2.6 22.4 39.2 17.9 5.1 -0.7 8.0 2.2

Spain Italy Greece Turkey Portugal TOTAL Source:

Country UK France USA Germany Russia Switzerland Spain Belgium Norway Italy Source:

2010 (May to August) 2,435,617,877 1,845,000,126 1,184,796,959 670,978,340 534,318,588 466,942,672 421,553,831 495,257,559 508,552,568 413,230,095 Visa Europe card data

2011 (May to August) 2,413,045,257 2,017,471,886 1,215,200,091 821,486,325 743,542,819 550,379,619 443,255,657 491,926,739 549,346,326 422,338,099

Foreign visitors to these six markets withdrew a total of 4.4bn in cash on their Visa debit, credit and prepaid cards over the course of May to August 2011, a year on year increase of 6.9% from 4.14bn in 2010. Cards are the easiest and cheapest way for tourists to access cash whilst abroad. Whilst due to the nature of cash we are not able to see directly where it is spent, the amount of cash withdrawn is indicative of spending whilst abroad. Foreign holiday makers drove spending on hotels and entertainment, with both categories witnessing 14% and 11.9% annual increases in foreign consumer spending. Utilities also saw a 25.5% increase in year on year spending. This rise could in part be due to foreign holiday home owners suffering from the increase in energy prices. A 15.9% annual increase in spending on petrol may also be as a result of high energy prices.
*This growth is in part due to an increasing number of Visa cards in circulation alongside a trend for cardholders to use cards versus cash.

Table 4:

Where foreign consumers spent their money across the six countries
2010 (May to August) 4,146,243,478 3,244,369,347 2,169,172,075 1,198,060,950 531,712,097 421,739,936 383,547,991 316,667,403 313,036,157 111,862,907 81,211,324 73,335,322 65,326,607 2,920,245 2,509,683 Visa Europe card data 2011 (May to August) 4,434,302,468 3,589,788,317 2,473,899,187 1,340,114,312 583,471,256 476,943,328 444,676,793 353,849,487 322,515,800 118,496,997 85,030,922 78,906,734 71,092,558 3,113,041 3,148,406 Year on year % change 6.9 10.6 14.0 11.9 9.7 13.1 15.9 11.7 3.0 5.9 4.7 7.6 8.8 6.6 25.5

Table 5:

BRIC countries as they feature in the top twenty foreign spenders across the six countries
2010 (May to August) Number of times in top 20 As % of overall spend 5 6 0 2 1.63 4.09 0.08 0.66 2011 (May to August) Number of times in top 20 5 6 0 2 As % of overall spend 2.04 5.17 0.09 0.72

Category Cash Retail Hotels Entertainment Supermarket Travel Petrol Miscellaneous Car Hire Airline Motoring Food & Drink Health Insurance Utilities Source:

BRIC countries

Brazil Russia India China Source:

Visa Europe card data

Visitors from the Eurozones struggling economies

Foreign visitors from struggling Eurozone economies namely Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain across the six countries saw a reduction in their percentage of overall spending, year on year, though all four retain their respective positions in the top 20 spenders across the markets. Counter-intuitively, Irelands foreign spending actually increased slightly year on year, though this may be due to inflationary pressures. Table 6: PIGS countries as they feature in the top twenty foreign spenders across the six Mediterranean rim countries
2010 (May to August) Number of times in top 20 Portugal Ireland Greece Spain Source: 2 3 0 5 As % of overall spend 1.85 1.07 0.37 3.23 2011 (May to August) Number of times in top 20 2 3 0 5 As % of overall spend 1.62 1.16 0.32 3.08

Visitors from emerging economies

Visitor spending from the BRIC countries Brazil, Russia, India and China held firm over the course of the May to August period year on year. Foreign spending by Russian visitors accounted for 5.17% of overall foreign spend across the six countries, up from 4.09% the previous year. It appeared six times in the top 20 spenders, continuing its showing in the January to April period. Spending by Indian visitors remained extremely low across the six, never appearing in the top 20 spenders and accounting for less than 1% of overall foreign consumer spending, only witnessing a 0.01% year on year increase in spending.

PIGS country

Visa Europe card data

Foreign spending in France grows by 6.3% year on year from May to August
Total foreign consumer spending in France over the period May to August 2011 totalled 4,040m compared to 3,801m the year before, signalling a 6.3% year on year increase in foreign consumer spending. The UK retained its top spot for foreign consumer spending in France for the period May to August 2011, but spending decreased by 4.6% going from 752m in the May to August 2010 period to 718m in 2011. Declines in consumer spending from Belgium (2.3%), Italy (5%) and the Netherlands (2.2%) were also witnessed. However not all was lost as Russian, Swiss, German and Canadian visitors registered double digit year on year consumer spending growth. Russian visitors retained their position as the eighth biggest spenders in the top ten foreign spenders in France. Russian spending went from 121m in January to April 2011 to 159m in the May to August period, a 32% increase in spending. Spending by German visitors to France went from ninth place in the top ten spenders for January to April 2011 to fifth place, registering a staggering a 133% increase in spending in the May to August 2011 period. Table 9: The top ten foreign spenders in France
2010 (May to August) 752,299,345.75 394,732,601.81 323,650,162.57 203,016,895.96 172,785,495.47 182,098,745.53 185,078,903.13 120,920,392.72 107,672,098.13 93,330,039.90 Visa Europe card data 2011 (May to August) 718,089,667.80 403,668,835.73 316,111,716.51 237,098,198.00 208,084,683.76 194,437,215.73 175,834,861.52 159,731,949.08 105,259,747.04 103,553,590.61 Year on year % change -4.6 2.3 -2.3 16.8 20.4 Month May June July August Total foreign spending in 760,498,727.53 908,271,684.78 1,229,237,794.39 1,142,427,565.01

Retailers in France benefitted to the tune of 1,144m in foreign consumer spending over the May to August 2011 period (an increase of 39% on the first four months of the year), outstripping cash withdrawals by some 240m. Spending by foreign consumers on petrol jumped by 13.6% year on year in the May to August period, from 125m in 2010 to 142m in 2011. This may be indicative of rising energy costs and visitors propensity to travel around France whilst on holiday. However, spending on car hire was down in the same period by 10.2%, going from 48m in 2010 to 43m. Cash withdrawals increased by 63% in the May to August 2011 period compared to January to April, totalling 904m. Cards are the easiest and cheapest way for tourists to access cash whilst abroad. Whilst due to the nature of cash we are not able to see directly where it is spent, the amount of cash withdrawn is indicative of spending whilst abroad. Significant increases in foreign consumer spending were witnessed in the insurance and utilities categories (72.3% and 50% respectively) which may be driven by foreign holiday home owners in France. Table 10: Where foreign consumers spent their money in France
2010 (May to August) 1,074,320,116 869,083,643 574,762,998 473,888,326 192,811,361 197,138,048 149,065,970 2011 (May to August) 1,144,769,541 904,049,833 615,827,834 506,272,652 209,997,648 213,507,672 161,175,890 Year on year % change 6.6 4.0 7.1 6.8 8.9 8.3 8.1

Country UK USA Belgium Switzerland Germany Spain Italy Russia Netherlands Canada Source:

6.8 -5.0 32.1 -2.2 11.0 Category Retail Cash Hotels

On a month by month basis, total foreign spending in France continued to rise from May to August 2011. Total foreign spending rose from 760m in the month of May to 1,142m in August. This accounted for a 33.43% increase in spending over the four months.

Entertainment Miscellaneous Supermarket Travel

Category Petrol Motoring Airline Car Hire Food & Drink Health Insurance Utilities Source:

2010 (May to August) 125,682,246 35,936,558.56 24,770,033 48,132,536 22,836,806 12,358,473.63 226,396 100,040 Visa Europe card data

2011 (May to August) 142,766,116.39 36,585,684 24,198,926 43,203,232 24,020,980 13,519,686.64 390,044 150,026

Year on year % change 13.6 1.8 -2.3 -10.2 5.2 9.4 72.3 50.0

Background to the Monitor

The Mediterranean Rim Tourism Monitor provides an indicator of foreign consumer spending in six Mediterranean countries France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey based on the cross-border transactions that are processed by Visa Europe. The Monitor quantifies foreign consumer spending, as indicated by Visa Europe data, for three periods throughout the year January to April, May to August, and September to December. It offers year on year insight into foreign consumer spending, both at a macro and spending category level across the six countries. The Monitor provides details of total foreign consumer spending across the six markets, whilst also looking at each market individually in more detail.

Visa Europe Methodology

The figures in this monitor are based on all Visa debit, credit and prepaid card cross-border consumer transactions in the six countries. These data are then amalgamated to determine a cumulative figure for the four month period (across the six countries and individually). These are then compared to the previous years spending in order to deliver a year on year indicator in the change on consumer spending. These data are not adjusted and just use raw transaction data only. In Europe, there are 430 million Visa debit, credit and commercial cards. In the 12 months ending March 2011 those cards were used to make purchases and cash withdrawals to the value of 1.6 trillion. 12.5% of consumer spending at point of sale in Europe is with a Visa card, and more than 70% of that is on Visa debit cards. Visa Europe is owned and operated by more than 4,000 European member banks and was incorporated in July 2004. In October 2007, Visa Europe became independent of the new global Visa Inc., with an exclusive, irrevocable and perpetual licence in Europe. As a dedicated European payment system it is able to respond quickly to the specific market needs of European banks and their customers - cardholders and retailers - and to meet the European Commissions objective to create a true internal market for payments. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world. In addition, Visa/PLUS is one of the worlds largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in over 200 countries. For more information, visit www.visaeurope.com

Spending Categories
The Monitor covers spending in the following categories: Cash cash withdrawn on a Visa card from an ATM Hotels Retail clothing, catalogue shopping, department stores, and DIY household sales Entertainment Supermarket Travel Petrol Car Hire Airlines Health Motoring Food & Drink Insurance Utilities Miscellaneous including professional services, taxes etc