FIFA World Cup Leads to ADR Increase for Hotels in Brazil

The 2014 FIFA World Cup, held from 12 June through 13 July, led host country Brazil to experience strong hotel performance gains during the months of June and July.

STR Global tracks data for nine of the twelve cities that hosted matches throughout the tournament: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.

“The FIFA World Cup is a very popular tournament that draws visitors from around the world,” said Elizabeth Winkle, managing director of STR Global. “Not only did the tournament draw global visitors but it attracted visitors from across the country. As we anticipated, the World Cup had a positive impact on Brazil hotel performance during June and July.”

Among the host cities, Rio de Janeiro reported the strongest performance in occupancy and ADR. All host cities, except Fortaleza, reported higher occupancy during June than in July. São Paulo had nearly the same occupancy performance for both months.

In June, during the Group Phase of the tournament there were more matches/teams playing, which offers an explanation for the higher demand levels.

Rio de Janeiro, which hosted the media centre as well as seven matches, including the finals, was able to maintain high occupancy and ADR levels throughout the entire tournament.

Overall, hotels in Brazil saw a 50.1% ADR increase in June and a 36.1% ADR increase in July. The ADR increase was reflected across all host cities, however, occupancy levels across all host cities decreased when compared to 2013.

Brazil saw a 2.0% supply increase in June 2014 on a 12-month-moving-average basis. Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, off the back of a high supply base, increased supply by 1.4% and 0.6%, respectively. Brasilia saw a supply increase prior to the World Cup of 4.2%.