How sports tourism impacts the global hospitality industry

Below we extract insights into sports tourism on short-term rentals and hotels from our Global Hospitality Summer Outlook report.

As for events, we detail advertised ADRs and occupancy on the books for hotels and STRs during:

• The Tour de France in Paris, France

• Wimbledon Championships in Wimbledon, Great Britain

• Champions League in Istanbul, Turkey

• Golf US Open in Los Angeles, California

As Lighthouse represents the largest source of hotel & short-term rental data in the world, discover the solution that will boost your business’s foundation like those of our clients!

Paris occupancy up 22% during Tour de France

The annual cycling event culminated in Paris, from July 22-23 this year, where occupancy on-the-books increased 22% over the same period last year (32% for hotels, 16% for STR). Rates are slightly more sluggish (4%).

Advertised ADRs up 47% in Istanbul for Champions League

As a non-recurrent event, prices were understandably elevated for the Champions League final in Istanbul from June 9-10 (47%) in hotels and STRs, where occupancy on-the-books was up 46% in hotels.

Advertised ADR for hotels was around $136 higher, sitting at around $246 on average. On the other hand, average ADR in short-term rentals was at $107.  In key markets in general during Q1 2023, our Quarterly Data Short-term Rental Story revealed vacation rentals are still cheaper than hotels, but catching up.

Wimbledon occupancy 9% higher in STRs than hotels during Championships

Arguably the crowning event of the tennis calendar, the 2 weeks of Wimbledon, typically attracts over half a million visitors. This year the tournament fell on July 3-16.

The annual tennis tournament in London is showing an uptick even over last year’s dates. Short-term rental occupancy on the books over the competition’s 2 week span were 50% booked at the time of measuring in June, and hotels 41%. This represents a 14% increase over this time last year. Rates were up 8%, with STR actually up 18%. It is worth noting that, with London being such a large market, there could be other factors at play here.

STR ADRs elevated by 20% over last year in LA during Golf US Open

Los Angeles hosted this year’s US Open Golf Tournament, from June 15-18, where hotel occupancy on-the-books was 64% increased (STR 13%) over last year. Hotel rates however were only 17% elevated (STR 20%).

Boost your business

This year's impacts of sports tourism on short-term rentals and hotels have made waves on accommodations performance in their respective destinations. A key function of destinations, DMOs, tourism bodies and municipalities is to keep the tourism industry under observation, and consequently, the accommodations available in their markets. A challenge for destinations is accurately tracking the scale and nature of alternative accommodation – short-term rentals; as they are much more fragmented than traditional options. 

How is your destination managing the surges in visitors with data? What are your layers for communicating a clear picture of the provision and capacity of accommodation in your market?  How are you forecasting infrastructure issues? What is your dataset for analyzing trends and disparities between your different areas of your territory? STR data for DMOs serves exactly that purpose, consolidating supply, occupancy, revenue and more to clarify the landscape, allowing you to monitor your destination with data.

Lighthouse now represents the largest source of hotel & short-term rental data in the world! In all, across the board, visibility over forward-looking performance builds an invaluable blueprint for many businesses. Click now to leverage the unparalleled insight of our vast hotel and short-term rental data, providing your business with a strategic advantage like never before: