NEW CAMPAIGN BETWEEN VISA AND VENICE, ITALY TO PRESERVE CITY FOR THE FUTURE

Venice’s idyllic canals and quaint alleys make it a dream destination for many travelers but with over 20 million visitors each year, the unique charm of the city is under threat.

On June 13, Visa and the City of Venice hosted a ceremony at Venice City Hall to announce the launch of “Visa for Venice”, a three year programme that will help Italian merchants showcase their businesses to international visitors, while helping protect their city’s most treasured sites.

The new programme encourages locals and visitors alike to pay with Visa at businesses throughout Venice. The incremental revenue generated from this campaign will be contributed to a newly established fund that will be used to safeguard the city for the future.

Donation kiosks are now set up around the city where both locals and tourists can choose to make a contribution directly to the fund.

For those outside the city who would like to make a difference, donations will soon also be accepted through a web-based donation page.

New Survey Results

In a recent survey of international travelers, Visa found 68% think about their impact on the local community when planning a trip outside the U.S. and 77% agree that travelers have more of an impact today than five years ago.

Not only is there a strong awareness, an astounding percentage of international travelers surveyed want to make difference and are willing to use their spending power to lessen their impact and support the local community. This willingness includes:

• Purchasing items from local artists and eating local food (92%)
• Spending money at businesses that support sustainability locally (90%)
• Making a donation to ensure historic monuments are preserved (84%)
• Forgo a specific activity that has a negative impact on the environment or community (83%)
• Spending a little more on something if it means having less of an impact on the local community (83%)
• Spending more time in less touristy attractions to lessen impact (78%)
• Forgoing ground transportation in favor of biking or using mass transit systems (73%)
• Volunteering while in the local area (66%)

International travelers showed a very strong desire to support local businesses and indicated they are most likely to choose local, independent businesses for dining and shopping if the:

• Location was easy to find (50%)
• Business had great online reviews (44%)
• Business accepted credit or debit cards (44%)
• Methodology: Visa commissioned a survey of 500 adults 18-65 years old in the U.S. who had traveled outside the U.S. in the past two years. The survey was conducted by Logica Research on behalf of Visa in May 2019.

Additional Messaging

The global appetite for international travel has never been stronger. In fact, according to the WTTC, international arrivals reached 1.3 billion last year, on pace to grow to 1.8 billion border crossings by 2030.

Visa is the most widely accepted payment network – enabling safe, secure, seamless cross-border transactions, all over the world. It starts when consumers plan and book their journey, and more importantly, continues through all phases of travels.

Travelers deserve the same payment benefits and conveniences they enjoy in their home country when traveling abroad and Visa is making that a reality.

By removing the barriers to how, where, and when you can pay abroad, travelers have peace-of-mind knowing they can use Visa virtually anywhere in the world, securely and at any time, while focusing on enjoying the experiences in front of them.

About Visa Inc. 

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device, for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce.

For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.

B-roll and other materials will also be made available on Red Robots MediaGRAB: https://mediagrab.press/presskit/Visa 

Broadcasters Contact: paul@redrobot.org

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1. Wide shot of Grand Canal
2. Medium shot gondoliers working
3. Medium shot gondolier parking gondola
4. Wide shot RIALTO Bridge
5. Medium close Italian and Venice flags
6. Wide shot Ca' Farsetti Venice Municipality building
7. Wide shot press conference
8. Medium shot People at press conference
9. Wideshot of Anthony Cahill, Managing Director VISA EUROPE
10. Close up of Anthony Cahill           
11. Close up of Luigi Nrugnaro, the Mayor of Venice r
12. Medium shot photographers and cameraman
13. Close up Anthony Cahill Managing Director VISA EUROPE
14. Soundbite (English) Anthony Cahill

“Visa for Venice is a three-year program. We are working in partnership with the municipality of Venice. Over the next three years we are running this campaign that is encouraging people to come to this wonderful city to use their Visa card when they buy goods or services”

15. Wide shot Grand Canal
16. Sound bite (English) Anthony Cahill

"The incremental revenue that’s generated by this campaign we are running will actually be donated to the city to help the restoration and the preservation of the city.”

17. Medium shot of people at press conference
18. Wide shot of people at press conference
19. Medium shot of Luigi Brugnaro, the Mayor of Venice, speaking at press conference
20. Sound bite (Italian), Close up shot of Luigi Brugnaro

“We are trying to connect to all the world with all the people that love Venice, to show their love in acts, they can donate 4 euro with their credit cards at the operation station as the one just behind me. It's very easy. All of the money we will use to save the city.”

21. Medium shot people on the Rialto Bridge
22. Soundbite (English) Close up shot of Anthony Cahill, Managing Director VISA EUROPE

“Everybody has an opportunity to help preserve this wonderful icon, that really has a global status, and I think that’s a wonderful thing if VISA can contribute to that.”

23. Medium shot of gondolas crossing
24. Soundbite (Italian) Close up Luigi Brugnaro, the Mayor of Venice

“Citizen can become protagonist and understand that community is more important than of single interest”

25. Wide shot of Rialto bridge
26. Sound bite (English) Close up of Anthony Cahill

"This is a world first and we’re really excited about this and working with the Mayor and his team. And if it’s successful than absolutely we may think where else might we be able to work cities or other jurisdictions to really help and allow everybody to drive commerce, help small businesses, help communities grow and thrive but also take some of the money that’s earned for that and contribute to good causes.”

27. Wide shot of Antony Cahill and Luigi Brugnaro shaking hands
28. Soundbite (Italian) Close up of Luigi Brugnaro, Mayor of Venice

“Visa guarantees us one hundred thousand euro in the next three years”

29. Wide shot of restaurant Colombo
30. Wide shot table at restaurant with the Visa folder
31. Close up VISA Campaign folder
32. Wide shot people at restaurant
33. Medium shot people at restaurant
34. Soundbite (Italian) Close up of Luigi Brugnaro, Mayor of Venice

“A little contribute would be welcomed from all the people that use the city for business for advertising and for all that give exposure to our city”

35. Wide shot Domenico Stanziani owner of Restaurant Colombo welcoming VISA people
36. Soundbite (English) Close up of Domenico Stanziani owner of Restaurant Colombo

“It will help a lot making our city more clean than it is”

37. Wide shot VISA task force walking in the town
38. Wide shot VISA task force entering a shop 
39. VISA task force in shop
40. VISA task force playing VISA sign on shop counter
41. Soundbite (Italian) Close up of Rachele Sacco, Travel agency

"The initiative is very important because Venice is World Heritage Site. To protect and maintain it has a cost and any support is welcomed.”

42. Wide shot Venice