Traveling with cash leads to anxiety and stress

Visa announced the findings of Visa’s Global Travel Intentions (GTI) Study, the payment network’s comprehensive look at travel and tourism in 2017. Although travel is stress relief, certain aspects of travel can lead to anxiety and stress, including getting, carrying and exchanging cash.

Visa’s cashless solutions offer the freedom to pay anywhere in the world while helping you get a competitive exchange rate when you pay in local currency. While paying in one’s home currency may seem familiar, those purchases, when made overseas, can usually assess conversion-related commissions and overall price markups.

2018 Macro Trends in Travel

• Trips are getting shorter: The global average is now eight nights, down from 10 nights on average in 2013.
• More trips abroad: Globally, people are planning to take more trips in the future, from an average of 2.5 trips in the past two years to 2.7 trips in the next two years. The Americas lead the pack in a number of trips in the past two years, taking an average of 3.2 trips in 2017.
• Technology is helping some travellers better navigate their destinations:88 percent of travellers gained online access while abroad. Almost half (44 percent) use ride-sharing apps to get around once they are on the ground.
• Multi-destination: 11 percent of global travel includes visits to multiple countries.
• Japan, the United States and Australia are the most visited countries: Japan has overtaken the United States as the most popular destination for global travellers in the past two years. Regional preferences prevail, though, with travellers in the Asia Pacific region leaning heavily toward Japan as a travel destination. American travellers prefer continental Europe, through Mexico, Canada and Japan are also highly desirable.
• Top spenders: Saudi Arabians are the top spenders when it comes to what travellers spend on their entire trips, including the booking stage as well as expenditures at the destination, with Chinese, Australians, Americans and Kuwaitis rounding out the top five.

Simplifying Payment Abroad

Travelers are increasingly using technology to plan their trips and navigate their destinations – 83 percent of travellers used technology for this purpose in 2017 compared to 78 percent in 2015. Yet the majority of them are still decidedly analogue when it comes to making payments internationally.

While many travellers use cards while on vacation, most (77 percent) still prefer to use cash when making purchases. Using a Visa card to pay in local currency could help international travellers get a more competitive exchange rate and possibly help them avoid being hit with hidden currency conversion fees when they get home. The Study also found the following themes related to the use of cash while travelling internationally:

• Cash causes anxiety: Travelers cited loss of cash or theft as a top money concern while on trips.
• Big Spenders: The average global traveller spends US$1,793 per trip, yet the global median amount of cash brought to destination globally clocks in at a whopping US$778¹.
• Trade-off: In order to travel with that much cash, 72 percent of people prepared their foreign currency prior to their departure date.
• Telling sign: Only slightly more than one in ten people made an ATM withdrawal at their destination. Security at ATMs is one area of concern affecting this statistic, cited by nearly one in five travellers as a barrier to using an ATM. Travelers from Europe, the Middle East and Africa are, however, more likely to withdraw cash during vacation compared to those from other regions.
• Leftover cash: A whopping 87 percent have leftover cash after their trips, but only 29 percent convert it back to the currency they can actually use at home. The global median leftover amount is US$123.

“We are excited to see the desire for global travel grow as technology becomes integral in every stage of the travellers’ journey,” said Lynne Biggar, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Visa. “Using your Visa card abroad means a safe, secure, seamless and convenient experience, without the worry of carrying cash. As more people travel internationally in 2018, we look forward to helping travellers make the most of their trips.”

Tips for Stress-Free Payment While Traveling

• Use your Visa card to pay in “local currency” to get a competitive exchange rate and help avoid getting stuck with hidden currency conversion fees when you get home.
• Use a credit or debit card for purchases. Visa offers security, convenience and ease when paying abroad. It may be considered safer than carrying cash and is backed by Visa’s Zero Liability Policy², which states accountholders won’t be held responsible for unauthorized charges on their account.
• Whenever possible, pay through a chip-activated terminal when using your credit or debit card for enhanced security.
• Look for the Visa or PLUS logo at any point-of-sale terminal or ATM to ensure these international payment cards are accepted.

More GTI Findings

The average global traveller spends US$1,793 per trip. Travelers expect to spend more on upcoming trips, with the highest likely increase in the Asia Pacific.

Among the top global spenders, travellers from Australia, China, Kuwait and the United States remain optimistic when it comes to spending for their upcoming overseas travel. Saudi Arabian respondents are still the number one spenders, but. are

projected to spend less on their next international trips.

For more information about Visa’s Global Travel Intentions Study visit Visa.com/TravelStudy.

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