Visa and Jumeirah Group have signed a multi-year partnership agreement.

As part of the partnership, Visa cardholders across the Middle East and North Africa will have access to a series of value-added cardholder benefits at Jumeirah properties which will be rolled out throughout the course of the agreement.

Alison Broadhead, chief commercial officer, Jumeirah Group commented: “The partnership with Visa provides significant potential for Jumeirah Group to reach key customer segments with targeted communications.

“With the scale of Visa’s network and its extensive analytical capabilities providing an accurate picture of the performance of specific customer groups, the partnership allows for better-informed decisions in our marketing and promotions.

“In short, we will be able to provide Visa customers with the offer they want, at the time they want it.

“The first such promotion offers Visa cardholders the opportunity to experience our 11 hotels in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and the Maldives at truly exceptional prices.

“Future offers will include our hotels in London, Mallorca, Frankfurt, Turkey, Shanghai and Baku, and our restaurants around the world.”

Tourism is a central pillar for the UAE’s economic growth and diversification, and this partnership will support the UAE’s tourism strategy by broadening Jumeirah Group offerings, while encouraging more use of electronic payments.

A recent report by Moody’s found that a six percentage point increase in electronic payments usage in the UAE between 2011 and 2015 resulted in a 0.23 per cent increase in GDP, adding some US$3,700,000,000 to the UAE’s GDP.

In addition the study found that increased electronic payment usage created the equivalent to 14,170 jobs in the UAE each year of the period studied.

Kamran Siddiqi, Visa group executive for central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “We have seen from spend on our network that consumers in the region want luxury experiences, and are subsequently spending more on their vacations compared to other travellers around the world.

“We also know that travellers value the convenience, security and reliability that electronic payments offer, which makes a Visa card, whether carried in a wallet or loaded into a mobile device, the ideal companion for the modern, connected traveller.

“And now they have an added incentive to use their Visa cards at Jumeirah Group locations for a truly unique, high-end experience.”