POSTED: August 3rd 2012

NewsUpdate

LONDON 2012: Visitor spending boost preceding Olympic Games

London Media Centre

August 3 - International visitors spent more than £445 million in the UK the week before the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games begun. 

Retail, services and entertainment sectors have benefitted the most from international spending prior to the Games, accounting for 27.5 per cent (£122.5 million), 19.2 million (£85.5 million) and 13.7 million (£61 million) respectively. 

Visitors from the USA account for 12.3 per cent of total international spend (£54.6 million), according to figures released by Visa. 

Meanwhile, spend on Visa cards in the retail sector is up 4.2 per cent year-on-year among visitors to the UK. 

The average transaction value among visitors is £57.86, with the Chinese splashing out the most by spending an average of £203.04 for every payment, while visitors from the UAE fork out an average of £181.24 per transaction. 

During the same week (23-29 July), domestic consumer spending on visa cards was £7 billion, a two per cent rise week-on-week during the same compared to the same able period last year. 

London 2012 has inspired a thirst for sporting goods as sales at sports shops swelled 10.2 per cent week on week. There was also a spike in spend on drink with an increase of 8.3 per cent from the same week the previous year.

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Keywords · London 2012 · spending · Olympics · London

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