Philadelphia raised $140 million to host the FIFA World Cup. So why are hotel rooms still available?
With six matches scheduled between June 14 and July 4, city officials have been aggressively marketing the tournament and its surrounding fan events to draw visitors from across the country and around the world. Yet days with the kick off, some hotels remain available on match days and the nights before games, meaning demand has not reached the levels many in the hospitality industry anticipated, writes Erin McCarthy for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Ed Grose, president of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association summarized that the World Cup has not delivered the hotel bookings many anticipated.
However, The short-term rental market is faring somewhat better. About 60 percent of Philadelphia-area Airbnbs and Vrbos should to be occupied on game days, now up from fewer than half in early May, according to data from AirDNA. The company also said that World Cup demand has also helped drive a 15 percent year-over-year increase in bookings and an 8 percent bump in occupancy on game days.
“Some places are doing very, very well, and some places are seeing marginal benefits,” said Bram Gallagher, AirDNA’s director of economics and forecasting. “In Philly, Boston, Atlanta, we’re seeing respectable gains.”
Still, not every host is cashing in.
Jenica Jones, a South Philadelphia Airbnb owner whose property is less than three miles from Lincoln Financial Field, expected to be fully booked all of June. So far, she only has two reservations. Despite dropping her prices below the $900-per-night recommended price from the app’s dynamic pricing tool, guests haven’t made reservations.
“They’re just not coming in as I expected,” said Jones.
Hospitality leaders remain optimistic for the rest of the summer. Between the World Cup, America 250 festivities, and July’s MLB All-Star Game, there’s still reason to believe Philadelphia is headed for a strong season, even if the World Cup alone didn’t deliver the hopeful influx of bookings.
For a deeper look at the hotel and Airbnb booking trends surrounding the World Cup in Philly, read The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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