CoStar, a global provider of real estate data, says Vancouver ranks high among Cup host cities in terms of hotel bookings
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A few days ahead of the World Cup kicking off in Vancouver, hotel bookings are still lower than had earlier been anticipated.
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But there are signs that bookings are starting to pick up.
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After saying in mid-May that bookings for Vancouver hotel rooms during June were down by about 20 per cent compared with this time last year, Destination Vancouver CEO Royce Chwin said this week that, as of late May, committed hotel occupancy for all of June is now 62 per cent, with the number of nights booked up 12 per cent compared with a week ago.
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“With the booking trends continuing to strengthen each week, we’re very optimistic about the outlook for June,” said Chwin.
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Meanwhile, CoStar, a global provider of real estate data, says Vancouver ranks high among Cup host cities in terms of hotel bookings.
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The company compared bookings, as of June 1, for match days in most of the cities in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. that are hosting Cup games. It noted a booking rate of 57.4 per cent in Vancouver on June 13 when the first match will be played at B.C. Place, between Australia and Turkey.
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While that’s a drop from the same date last year — when the occupancy rate was 71.6 per cent — it’s still better than other cities hosting Cup games that same day. The booking rate in San Francisco on June 13 is 49.3 per cent. In Boston, it’s 54.6 per cent. And in New York, it’s 57 per cent.
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CoStar also found that, as of June 1, Vancouver and Guadalajara, Mexico, boasted the top occupancy rate — 48 per cent — among host cities for the entire Cup period, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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New York and neighbouring New Jersey were at 39 per cent. The only U.S. city above 40 per cent was San Francisco at 44.
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CoStar cited several factors: cheaper overall costs in Canada and Mexico, and a backlash against U.S. visa policies.
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“There are some markets that are not seeing this huge spike in demand they expected to see, but that’s only half the story,” said Didio Pequeno, director of hospitality market analytics at CoStar.
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Vancouver is also ahead when it comes to how much people will pay for rooms. He said most people in the industry are looking at the overall room revenue against the number of rooms sold, known as the average room rate. If average room rates are higher, this might compensate for lower occupancy rates, Pequeno said.
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“This is not going to be an occupancy event, this will most likely be a rate event,” he said, explaining that people are not only booking later for Cup matches, but also may be willing to pay more.
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For June, CoStar is forecasting that room revenue in Metro Vancouver will increase 28.3 per cent over last year because five of the seven FIFA matches will happen in June. Then, in July, when there are two more matches, it will increase 16.8 per cent over last year.
