Latest data from the big two credit card operators – Mastercard and Visa – suggest that travel and tourism are still seen, by inflation-hit consumers, as being priority spending items.
While consumers, the world over, are grappling with decades-high inflation, and a relentless increase in the cost of daily living, there has been a shift in card usage from big-ticket items to essential goods.
But, according to Mastercard, travel still qualifies as a priority – with tourism spend boosting Mastercard’s second quarter earnings.
Mastercard said it saw the strongest summer of travel spending, from cardholders, since before the pandemic – with pent-up travel demand, as restrictions eased, driving the growth.
However, Mastercard warned that – based on US trends – while higher income consumers are likely to sustain the strength in travel spend for now, tourism spend could begin to fall as lower income consumers row back on their outgoings.
That said, rival Visa said it has not seen any indication of any slowdown in spending from its cardholders.
