Shorter But more Frequent Trips Gain Popularity Among International Travelers.
Travelers prefer shorter but more frequent trips when it comes to visiting and experiencing other countries, according to a report of Visa’s Global Travel Intentions Study, after 15 thousand interviews with travelers from 27 countries.
The Visa (NYSE: V) announced on February 6, the findings of a study on the ways of payment networks on travel and tourism in 2017, which is issued annually. Aside from the main point of the report, that Visa’s cashless solutions offer the traveler the freedom to pay in any country of the world while helping you get a competitive exchange rate when you pay in local currency, the report also presented some interesting statistics regarding travel and tourism in the past year.
The findings show that people tended to stay two days less in the same travel destination since in 2017 the average was eight consecutive nights whilst in 2013 it was ten. And while most of the travelers have visited only one country within a year, 11 percent of global travel includes visits to more than one country.
The average of travelers plans to take 2.7 trips more in the next two years, from an average of 2.5 trips in the past two years. The US nationals have traveled across the world most in the past two years, taking an average of 3.2 trips in 2017. They prefer continental Europe, though Mexico, Canada, and Japan also remain highly desirable.
On the other hand, the most visited countries are Japan, the United States, and Australia. Though in the two previous years, the US topped the list, in 2017 Japan has replaced it as the most popular destination for global travelers in the past two years.
Saudi Arabians are at the top of the list when it comes to spending, alongside Chinese, Australians, Americans, and Kuwaitis who make the top five.
Technology seems to become an inseparable part of traveling. 88 percent of travelers admit to having online access, while abroad, and almost half of them use ride-sharing apps to get around once they are on the ground. Many of them claim that smartphones and other similar gadgets, help them to navigate their destinations better.
The study also divulges that the average traveler spends US$1,793 per trip and that 72 percent of people have exchanged money for the foreign currency used in the country they are visiting, before their departure date. And while 87 percent of these travelers have leftover cash after their trips, only 29 percent of them convert it back to the currency used in their country of residence. The global average leftover amount is US$123.
