Hotels won the gold with global sporting events in 2023

Note: All financial figures presented in $

While concerts such as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour dominated headlines in 2023, global sporting events were another major driver of hotel performance around the world this year.  

Like the Olympics, but on a smaller scale, events of this kind are successful for hotels because of the inclusion of competitors from multiple countries. Fans travel near and far to watch their home countries compete, as they will do at the highest level in Paris for the 2024 Olympic games.

FIFA Women’s World Cup (New Zealand and Australia)

The FIFA Women’s World Cup was held Down Under from 20 July through 20 August. With July and August being slower months in New Zealand and Australia, hotels recorded noticeable benefits from the tournament.

Nine hotel markets/submarkets between Australia and New Zealand hosted matches during the tournament, which featured an expanded 32-team field.

New Zealand hotels reached their highest performance on 26 July: occupancy (80.3%), ADR ($170.49) and RevPAR ($136.95), which was the day of the U.S. vs. Netherlands match. Held in Wellington, which hosted the most group matches, the market saw the highest occupancy level of the event period on that match day (93.9%).

Wellington also saw success on 25 July, when New Zealand faced the Philippines: occupancy (89%), ADR ($188.19) and RevPAR ($167.77).

Moving over to Australia, the country’s hotels performed the best on 19 August: (80.9%), ADR ($196.52) and RevPAR ($159.02). Brisbane, which hosted eight matches, saw its highest occupancy level (91%) during the event period on 27 July, when the market saw hometown Australia face Nigeria. The highest ADR ($209.34) and RevPAR ($189.88) levels were seen on 12 August, the day of the quarterfinal stage.

Ryder Cup (Italy)

The Ryder Cup, a bi-annual golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, was hosted in Rome in the final days of September through 1 October. During the seven-day period of leadup activity and competition, Rome’s hotel industry reported its highest daily ADR and RevPAR levels ever recorded (29 September: $524.14 and $490.12, respectively). In addition, it was the first time that daily ADR reached $400 in Rome since late-May 2009.

Looking at occupancy, hotels in Rome reported three consecutive days with the metric above 90%, with Friday, 29 September showing the highest level (93.5%). The lowest occupancy level (79.8%) was seen on the first day of the event period, still focused on leadup.

Rugby World Cup (France)

The Rugby World Cup took place between 8 September and 28 October across nine cities in France – Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Saint Denis, Saint-Etienne, and Toulouse. The country saw its highest occupancy levels on Wednesday, 27 September (87.7%), the day of the Uruguay vs. Namibia match.

Looking at daily occupancy data from the previous Rugby World Cup, hosted by Japan in 2019, the highest levels in the country were seen on the last day of the tournament – Monday, 2 November (at 94.4%). When comparing daily occupancy figures from both tournaments, the highest daily occupancy level from the 2023 Rugby World Cup, as noted above, slightly dipped (by 7.1%).

This year, the country’s daily ADR and RevPAR levels peaked at $391.85 (Sunday, 1 October) and $310.89 (Saturday, 30 September). These were the highest daily ADR and RevPAR levels on record in France since late-June 2023.

Cricket World Cup (India)

This year’s Cricket World Cup was hosted by India, between 5 October and 19 November. The final match day featured India and Australia. Throughout the tournament, occupancy levels peaked on Saturday, 11 October (77.9%), the day of not one, but two matches – Bangladesh vs. Australia and England vs. Pakistan. This was also the highest daily occupancy level the country had seen since late-February 2023.

Compared to the figures posted during the 2019 Cricket World Cup hosted by England, this year’s peak occupancy levels were below the highest occupancy levels seen during the 2019 tournament (-17.1% to 94.0% on Thursday, 18 June).

Daily data further shows India posted its highest daily ADR and RevPAR levels on Sunday, 19 November ($124.56) and Saturday, 18 November ($83.47).

FIBA Basketball World Cup (Japan, Philippines, and Indonesia)

Unlike the other events on the list, the FIBA Basketball World Cup (25 August through 10 September) had little impact on daily performance in each of the three host countries.

In Japan, hotel performance was the highest on 26 August: occupancy (84.5%), ADR ($175.17) and RevPAR ($147.96). Similarly, Okinawa, the host markets, saw its highest performance on that date as well: occupancy (78.2%), ADR ($238.90) and RevPAR ($186.88). The market’s second-highest performance came on 25 August when it hosted Germany vs. hometown Japan: occupancy (77.8%), ADR ($230.46) and RevPAR ($179.31).

In Indonesia, hotel performance was higher in the days leading up to the event. Jakarta recorded its highest event occupancy level on 25 August (81%), which was the only day that occupancy reached this mark. The market had an ADR streak above $80 from 3-7 September, with the highest room rate of the event period being $89.31 on 5 September.

Moving to the Philippines, Manila hotels recorded their highest performance on 26 August: occupancy (66.5%), ADR ($67.49) and RevPAR ($44.86).  While the final matches were held in the market, albeit on a Sunday, occupancy only reached 47%.

Conclusion

While markets around the world have recovered at different levels and times, one thing remains clear across the board – events, whether that be concerts, sporting competitions, conferences, etc., add a boost to hotel performance on a daily and monthly scale. 

The sporting events on this list are only a small indicator of the impact Paris will see this summer when the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad take place from 26 July-11 August. Expect to see multiple pieces next year in the leadup to that mega event.