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World Cup boosts hotel rates, but short stays limit revenue gains
Hotel revenue per available room rose more than 40% and average daily rates jumped nearly 35% on match days during the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, according to CoStar News.
The biggest World Cup in history drew more than 6.8 million fans across North America, setting a new attendance record, but the hospitality boom has been uneven, according to Bisnow.
Hotels did see strong gains around marquee matchups, with revenue per available room rising more than 40% and average daily rates increasing nearly 35% on match days during the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, CoStar News reported. Driftwood Capital portfolio asset management senior vice president Daniel Katz said hotels in cities hosting marquee teams like Argentina, Portugal and Colombia posted average daily rate growth of 20% or more year-over-year.
Bisnow reports that many fans booked at the last minute and stayed only a night or two, rather than the three or four nights that some operators had projected, while convention and business travelers largely avoided host markets. Katz said the overall performance was “definitely didn’t meet expectations,” contrasting with years of FIFA and tourism officials’ promises that the tournament would act as an economic engine.
The same pattern showed up in short term rentals, with AirDNA data pointing to sharp, match specific rate increases, including a 60% year over year jump for Mexico vs England in Mexico City and a 43% rise around the final in Jersey City.
Note: New York City’s hotel market struggled to push rates through much of the tournament before demand surged around the final, and the Hotel Association of New York City projected $300M in incremental revenue based on a forecast of 1.2 million visitors, according to the portion of the story provided by Bisnow.