From major sporting tournaments to holiday peaks and local staycations — Visa’s Retail Spend Monitor highlights how events can reshape consumer spending patterns. Across these diverse contexts, three themes emerge.
- Large events are often accompanied by periods of more concentrated spending activity, with higher transaction volumes observed over shorter timeframes.
- Spending linked to experiences and lifestyle categories appears prominently in event‑adjacent periods, including increased activity associated with staycations in the UAE and Serbia, as well as higher spend in leisure and luxury categories in the DRC and other markets.
- Insights into these spending trends provide issuers and merchants with additional context on how consumer activity varies across events and seasons — insight that can be translated into structured analyses to better understand changing behaviours across markets.
Sporting Events as Catalysts for Changing Spending Behavior
TotalEnergies CAF AFCON, Morocco 2025, demonstrated the power of sport to drive both travel and everyday commerce. Inbound spending from fans travelling from the countries whose national teams competed in the tournament rose by over 190% year-on-year¹, with visitors from Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accounting for more than 60% of that growth. All six Moroccan host cities recorded higher inbound spending, led by Rabat (+70%), Tangier (+55%) and Casablanca (+50%),
The tournament also shifted how and where money was spent. Sports‑related purchases increased by 45%, boosted by fan merchandise and activity at sporting clubs, while at-home spend grew as delivered food and groceries rose 55% during the same period.
Spiritual Tourism And Community Spending In Lebanon
During the Papal visit to Lebanon, cross‑border inbound spend rose over 8% versus the prior week, while domestic consumer spend climbed over 30%, reflecting both international and local engagement around the visit. Inbound spending increased by almost 36%, driven largely by visitors from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, many of whom (63%) were frequent visitors who had been to Lebanon at least three times in the previous 14 months.
The visit also catalyzed community‑oriented spending. Entertainment and retail categories grew by over 26% as visitors sought cultural experiences and shopping, while charitable giving rose by 65%. Household and retail spend among locals increased by over 44%, as residents participated in activities surrounding the Papal visit and supported local businesses benefiting from the influx of visitors.
The Winter Shift in Consumer Spending
Insights during the winter holiday from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Serbia and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) show how regional trends are shaped differently country by country. In the UAE, premium card spend grew 30% year-on-year during December 2025, supported by almost 35% rise in staycations and higher outbound travel and leisure activity². Inbound travel spend to the UAE on premium cards from Europe rose around 50%, while visitors from Asia (Thailand, Philippines) and Latin America (Brazil, Puerto Rico) increased their spending by more than 145%; during the F1 weekend in Abu Dhabi alone, spending by visitors from Europe grew around 25% compared with just over 10% on other December weekends.
Serbia recorded an even stronger 60% increase in winter spending on Visa premium consumer cards, underpinned by a 55% rise in staycations and 45% growth in luxury retail purchases such as apparel, cosmetics and jewelry. Inbound travel spend from European visitors using premium cards rose around 50%, and outbound travel from Serbia on premium cards climbed about 35%, with dining and leisure spending among outbound travelers up more than 40%. These patterns suggest that experiences — whether at home or abroad — are increasingly central to how consumers in Serbia allocate discretionary spend.
In the DRC, the winter spending is driven by international travel and luxury shopping. International travel spending on Visa premium consumer cards grew by over 45% year-on-year, while inbound spending from markets such as the UAE, Zambia, the Czech Republic and Portugal rose by more than 75%. Among premium cardholders traveling abroad from the DRC, spending to destinations such as France, China, Morocco and the USA increased by about 85%, and luxury apparel and jewelry purchases rose over 55%.
¹ Visa Consulting and Analytics, Retail Spend Monitor Report (21 December 2025 – 18 January 2026)
² Visa Consulting and Analytics, Retail Spend Monitor Report (December 1–31, 2025 (UAE, Serbia, DRC))