Visa is forecasting 400,000 to 500,000 int’l visitors to Rio de Janeiro in August, a projection one of its top marketing execs called "reassuring" given economic and health issues swirling around the August games in Brazil, according to Liana B. Baker of
REUTERS. Visa Chief Brand & Innovation Marketing Officer Chris Curtin said those figures are based on an "enormous amount of transactions" in Visa's network in the region ranging from hotel nights, entertainment to transportation, as well as third-party historical data.
Visa's projections are higher than a '14 prediction from Brazil's tourism agency of 380,000 foreign visitors, "while they are lower than the 590,000 foreign visitors" who went to the U.K. for the last summer Olympics in '12, according to U.K. government statistics. It is the first time that Visa "is projecting Olympic travel attendance." The company "has a unique vantage point on such plans" because, as a sponsor of the IOC since '86, it is the only form of payment accepted besides cash for Olympic tickets and travel packages.
Curtin said that its data, combined with historical attendance and spending, shows "a lot of demand for getting to Brazil" to participate in or watch the Olympics.
Visa predicts about 45% of travelers "will come from Latin America and the Caribbean," 30% from Europe and only 15% from North America (REUTERS, 4/27).
