Soccer at the highest level kicked off high revenues per available room and occupancies in host markets across Australia and New Zealand.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup started on July 20 and concluded on Aug. 20, with Spain defeating England 1-0 in the final match for its first title. Matches took place between five Australian cities — Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney — and four New Zealand cities — Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Hamilton.
Revenue per available room increased in 8 of 9 host markets from July 20 to Aug. 2 compared to July 1-19, according to CoStar data. The highest increases were in Wellington, Auckland and Brisbane, at 42%, 32% and 18%, respectively. Perth was the only market to have a decrease, as it dropped off 2%.
Wellington's hotel market posted its highest occupancies and average daily rates on July 25, when New Zealand played the Philippines, and July 27, when the United States played the Netherlands.
Host markets performed the best during knockout stage. With the exception of the Round of 16 match between England and Nigeria in Brisbane, occupancies on the books were up in each city the day of an elimination match.
Occupancy on the books in Sydney for the final match on Aug. 20 was at 61.4% as of Aug. 7, up significantly from 36.3% the same time last year.