Women’s World Cup drives RevPAR premiums in Australia and New Zealand during quiet winter season

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is approaching its conclusion with the third place and championship matches set for this weekend in Brisbane and Sydney, respectively. Supported by record-breaking attendance, hotels around Australia and New Zealand have received a much-needed performance boost during the usually quiet winter season.

Healthy RevPAR premiums for almost all markets

Nine hotel markets/submarkets between Australia and New Zealand have hosted matches during the tournament, which featured an expanded 32-team field and a total attendance record after just two rounds of play. All but one of those nine experienced a noticeable jump in revenue per available room (RevPAR) when comparing group stage dates from 20 July-2 August against the 19 days leading into the event.

Especially in New Zealand, smaller markets have seen an even stronger overall benefit. Wellington hosted the most group stage matches and saw the largest RevPAR premium of 42%. In the first 14 days of the tournament, Auckland saw a 32% RevPAR gain while hosting six matches and the opening ceremony. Wellington’s RevPAR premium was driven far more by average daily rate (+30%), whereas Auckland saw equal contribution from occupancy (+15%) and ADR (+14%).

Staying in Wellington and looking at actualized performance, there were two matches that drew in high occupancies and significantly lifted ADR. The first was co-host New Zealand vs. the Philippines on Tuesday, 25 July, when occupancy reached 89% and ADR was NZD303. The second match that produced even higher performance was the U.S. vs. the Netherlands the next night with 91% occupancy and NZD365 ADR.

In Australia, the performance impacts were a little less pronounced, but certainly significant. Brisbane picked up the largest impact during group play, especially on 22 July when the city’s first match between England and Haiti drove 90% occupancy and an ADR of AUD306. The following match six days later between Australia and Nigeria drew in an even bigger crowd with 91% occupancy and lower ADR of AUD270.

As host to the FIFA Fan Festival and five matches overall, Perth was the only area to see lower group stage RevPAR compared to the event leadup. 

Knockout stage drives bookings as well

The World Cup impact was not limited to the group stage, as data from Forward STAR has shown a significant lift in occupancy on the books, especially in New Zealand.

For the 15 August semifinal match between Spain and Sweden, Auckland’s occupancy on the books was up 27 percentage points from the same time last year to 76%.

The final match on 20 August at the Stadium Australia in Sydney is also producing a large increase (+25 ppts to 61%). Australian host markets/submarkets, excluding that final, were seeing an average increase in occupancy on the books of seven percentage points year over year.

Conclusion

A larger tournament field (24 teams previously) and growing interest in the Women’s World Cup added to the gains for hotels in Australia and New Zealand. While additional demand drivers factored into the equation in some areas, there impact from the event has been obvious when looking at performance premiums during the group stage and booking levels during the knockout rounds. Given that booking levels increase further in the final days ahead of a major event, this weekend’s matches will serve as a nice parting gift for hotels in the region.