The early data is in, and it suggests what Greater Boston officials and many business leaders hoped for: the World Cup was an economic boon for much of the hospitality industry.
The seven games at Gillette Stadium and accompanying influx of tourists helped drive a more than 20% increase in both average hotel room rates and revenue per available room compared to the same period last year, according to the nonprofit tourism group Meet Boston.
Meanwhile, sweaty fans packing into watch parties — causing some bars and restaurants to run out of beer — was no mirage. According to the payment platform Square, Boston restaurants and bars saw a 28% increase in consumer spending during the opening two weeks of the World Cup — the most of any host city.
At Warehouse Kitchen + Sports Bar in downtown, owner Cliff Dever said the first four days of the World Cup alone were the busiest the restaurant had been since opening in 2013. Lauren Johnson, a senior manager at the nearby High Street Place food hall, added that the record-setting increase in business “completely exceeded” her expectations.
“Our restaurant partners are just so excited to see new faces every day and to be able to serve people through different times of the day,” she said.
Johnson noted that High Street Place tried to cater to fans from across the world with specialty menus. The food hall also hosted events like a soccer shootout and had DJs and a mariachi band perform for patrons. The surge in business has continued even though Boston is no longer hosting World Cup games.
“We expect many of these people to come back that discovered us during the World Cup,” Johnson said. “I think that there was really a lasting impact that’s going to extend well beyond this summer.”
Still, the economic boost of the World Cup hasn’t extended to everyone. In some respects, whether a business saw more customers depended on its location.
In Foxborough, for example, some restaurants actually reported a slowdown as traffic snarled streets around Gillette Stadium on gamedays. Meanwhile at the Dominican restaurant Fort Hill Bar & Grill in Roxbury, owner Norvia Peña said daily business over the past month hasn’t changed from before the tournament.
Peña said that’s because most soccer fans frequented restaurants near downtown where the FIFA Fan Fest and other soccer festivities took place. Peña said she was a vendor at a watch party in her neighborhood, but the attendance was slow.
“Everybody goes to downtown. Everybody goes to the Seaport,” Peña said. “It is what it is. You lose some and you win some.”
Among those who did benefit from the World Cup were local entrepreneurs renting out their homes.
According to Airbnb, Greater Boston was among the top areas nationwide for new hosts during the tournament. And for the quarterfinal match on July 9, Boston ranked first among host cities with searches for stays on Airbnb increasing 182%.
Overall, the FIFA host committee says 447,300 people attended the soccer matches at Gillette Stadium. With limited parking availability around the stadium, local homeowners and businesses earned easy cash opening up their front yards to people looking for somewhere to park.
Boston tourism officials say the influx of people and spending means more local tax revenue and money stimulating the region’s economy.
As additional economic data becomes available, a more complete picture will emerge of how the World Cup affected the Greater Boston economy. A key question is whether the influx of tourism and increase in spending was enough to offset the tens of millions of dollars that state and local authorities spent preparing for the world’s largest sporting event.
