SINGAPORE, Nov. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Asia Pacific travellers prefer using credit, debit and prepaid cards as payment method when travelling, according to the latest findings from Visa's latest Global Travel Intentions (GTI) study, underlining consumers' growing reliance on digital payment methods.
The number of travellers bringing cash on their trips has also fallen by 60 percent post-pandemic, with only 31 percent of respondents bringing cash in 2023, as compared to 79 percent in 2020. Respondents cite reasons such as wide acceptance by merchants, travel security and good foreign exchange rates as drivers for overseas card usage.
"We are witnessing a significant shift in travellers' behaviours and payment preferences post-pandemic, with many opting for safe, digital, and touch-free payment methods, " said Danielle Jin, Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific, Visa. "Our Global Travel Intentions study reaffirms the growing importance of digital payments in enhancing the overall travel experience, and how the travel ecosystem needs to help local businesses provide secure and contactless payment solutions that align with the preferences of today's travellers."
Understanding evolving travel trends and consumer preferences
According to this year's study, which surveyed more than 15,000 travellers across Asia Pacific, travellers are displaying several notable trends and behaviours:
Unlocking new opportunities in travel with data
For the travel industry, navigating these shifting consumer trends will be a critical part of success. Visa's close partnerships with many players in the travel ecosystem – from travel agencies to airlines, merchants, financial institutions, and government bodies – demonstrate that it is the organisations primed with data that can better engage their travelling customers at scale with personalised, high-impact experiences.
"Visa's data capabilities and insights provide a holistic picture of the how, where, why and who pertaining to Asia Pacific travel trends, helping organisations attract and support travellers right from the moment they decide to travel," Jin continued. "To serve our partners better, we have also recently set up a Centre of Excellence for travel here in Asia Pacific, which is a team wholly dedicated to helping clients leverage data and maximise opportunities in the travel and cross-border payments space."
Visa's payments data and in-house data science capabilities can help organisations plan ahead so they can maximise opportunities when travel surges. When combined with partners' data such as airline seat capacity, Visa's data insights can offer predictions for peaks in travel seasons for travel ecosystem players, which consists of merchants and retailers to banks, fintechs, and government bodies in the travel space. These institutions – big to small – can use Visa's data insights to better support their customers' demands and preferences during peak travel periods, and chart out travel deals and rewards for Visa cardholders right when they want it.
The Visa Global Travel Intentions Study 2023 was conducted by 4SIGHT Research & Analytics in April to June 2023 and surveyed 15,467 respondents across Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mainland China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Spanning over a decade, the biennial GTI survey sheds light on travel and payment behaviours while capturing emerging trends in the travel landscape.
About Visa
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.