2024 has opened with Israelis spending more on credit cards, according to credit card clearing company Phoenix-Gama, of The Phoenix Holdings group. Phoenix-Gama publishes a weekly index of credit card activity covering turnover, transaction volume, and average transaction value in seven main segments. The comparative figures are from the previous week, and from a week at the beginning of September 2023, before the outbreak of the Swords of Iron war.
In the week ended January 13, 2024, the tourism sector stood out, with a 45% increase in the value of credit card purchases in comparison with the previous week. The average transaction value rose 23%, from NIS 1,414 to NIS 1,738, a rise partly attributable to higher prices than in the past few months.
Turnover in the tourism industry was still 64% down in comparison with September 2023, but the gap is narrowing. In the first few weeks of the war, the industry experienced an 80% downturn in turnover.
Nadav Lahmani, CEO of Phoenix-Gama subsidiary Control, said, "More and more foreign airlines are restoring service to Israel, and the number of passengers at Ben Gurion Airport is constantly rising. The sales figures are still a long way from where they were before the war, but the trend of recovery makes us cautiously optimistic.
"At the same time, we saw a rise last week in the number of bookings at hotels in Israel. Some of the hotels that up to now have catered for evacuees are again open to the general public, while the evacuees are moving to longer term housing solutions."
The biggest decline in turnover last week was in the computers and cellphones segment, amounting to 9%. This follows a rise in purchases in end-of-year offers, some of which stretched into January. Phoenix-Gama sees the decline as temporary, and says that turnover will rise again in the next round of special offers.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 17, 2024.
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