Tourist spending in India showed the strongest growth among Asia Pacific countries, rising 80 percent in the last week of June, benefiting from tourist traffic diverted from elsewhere in the region due to the SARS outbreak.
The growth in the last week of May was 42 percent, rising to 65 percent in mid June and it reached a staggering 80 percent as the month of June drew to a close.
In fact, the Asia Pacific region itself has seen a recovery in the month of June.
More From This Section
This was reflected in the number of transactions made by tourists using Visa cards in the region, as the impact of SARS continued to diminish.
By the last week of June, the number of international transactions in the region was down just 11 per cent year on year, compared with a 30 per cent decrease one month earlier.
Among all the Asia Pacific countries, international transactions in India saw the strongest growth with an increase of 80 per cent in the last week of June.
The country stood to benefit from tourist traffic diverted from elsewhere in the region due to the SARS outbreak.
The growth in the last week of May was 42 per cent, rising to 65 per cent in mid June and it reached a staggering 80 per cent as the month of June drew to a close.
Tourism is very much driven by the confidence Asians have in travel. With the outbreak of SARS contained, they are returning with renewed vigor as reflected in the spectacular increase in their travel over the past few weeks.
A Visa press release stated that tourists from India led the way, with transactions up almost 100 per cent in the last week of June.
A month ago, transactions by Indian tourists saw around 60 per cent growth over the year before.
India has consistently outperformed other countries given the growing business and the increase in the number of global payment cards issued by Visa