Annual RevPAR Growth
20 %
15 %
10 %
5 %
0 %
-5 %
Source: LARC, CoStar
$ 400.0 $ 350.0 $ 300.0 $ 250.0 $ 200.0 $ 150.0 $ 100.0 $ 50.0
$. 0
Source: LARC, CoStar
Russia World Cup 2018 Impact on Annual RevPAR
Moscow |
St. Pete |
Yekaterinaburg |
Sochi |
Russia Regional |
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Europe |
2018 World CupImpact by Hotel Rooms Revenues
Revenues( Left Axis)
As a Percentage of 2017 Russia Hotel Rooms Revenue
Impact( Right Axis)
2018 World CupImpact by Hotel Rooms Revenues( adjusted to 2024)
which contrasts starkly with Qatar 2022, which had a maximum distance of 34 miles between stadiums. This creates inherent challenges for the cost and complexity of travel, both for fans and logistical support. In addition to no stadium hosting more than one match per day, only 12 of the 104 total matches are scheduled to take place within two days of each other in the same city. In most cases, matches in any given city are
As a Percentage of U. S. 2024 Hotel Rooms Revenue
8 % 7 % 6 % 5 % 4 % 3 % 2 % 1 % 0 %
spaced at least four days apart.
When considering geographic scale, the 2018 World Cup held in Russia is the most relevant precedent. Spanning 12 host cities, with the greatest distance between them reaching 1,430 miles, there was no universal boost to the hospitality industry across all host cities.
Based on CoStar data, we estimate that Russia saw a 6.7 % increase in annual RevPAR, driven entirely by gains in ADR. However, for context, in 2024, Russia sold only 3 % of the hotel room volume of the U. S. and its ADR was US $ 124 compared to the US $ 159 ADR in the U. S. The revenue impact in Russia was roughly US $ 175 million in 2018 and adjusted to 2024 dollars would be nearly US $ 362 million. Though this was roughly a 6.7 % positive annual impact on Russia RevPAR, the same revenue increase would translate to just a 0.2 % increase in the U. S., even when adjusted for inflation.
WINS & LOSSES North America faces even greater structural challenges due to its vast geography and market diversity. However, there are plenty of reasons the revenue impact on the U. S. hotel industry will be more meaningful than experienced in Russia, including:
• a higher base level of ADR
• better travel infrastructure
• more interest from foreign travelers for tourism
Even if the World Cup generates 10 times the hotel rooms revenue it did in Russia, the annual RevPAR impact in the U. S. would be just 1.8 %.
Performance also varied significantly by host city. Based on CoStar data, Moscow experienced a 200 % surge in RevPAR during the tournament, while St. Petersburg, despite being a host city, experienced declining occupancy and slower ADR and RevPAR growth during the tournament than in the periods immediately
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