Vancouver looks beyond FIFA World Cup to long-term tourism, convention growth | Daily Hive

Destination Vancouver looks beyond FIFA World Cup to long-term tourism and convention growth

The temporary FIFA World Cup-time VANCOUVER sign by Cadillac Fairview, installed at Granville Square plaza for Junction Public Market in Summer 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

With Vancouver’s seven 2026 FIFA World Cup matches now in the rearview mirror, Destination Vancouver highlights that the next challenge is turning the city’s global exposure from the tournament into longer-term gains for tourism, conventions, investment, and major events.

For the city’s tourism authority, the end of the tournament is being framed not as a finish line, but as the start of a new push to build on Vancouver’s international profile.

“Cities are remembered through defining moments,” said Royce Chwin, president and CEO of Destination Vancouver, in a statement on Thursday.

“Expo 86 introduced Vancouver to the world. The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, cemented our place on the global stage. FIFA World Cup 2026 has introduced Vancouver to an entirely new generation of future visitors around the world. Our job now is to turn that inspiration into opportunity.”

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Destination Vancouver asserts that major global events have previously helped raise the city’s profile well beyond the event itself, pointing to the sustained growth in overnight visits after the 2010 Winter Olympics — until the pandemic’s onset a decade later.

The tourism authority is hoping the FIFA World Cup will have a similar effect, especially as cities around the world increasingly compete for tourists, conferences, investors, talent, and major international events.

“Every year, Vancouver welcomes visitors from around the world. But being a Host City gave us something different. It gave us the opportunity to introduce Vancouver to millions of future visitors who may never have considered our city before. And Vancouver delivered a spectacular performance,” continued Chwin.

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The temporary TSN/CTV broadcast studio and 2026 FIFA World Cup match screening zone at Vancouver’s Jack Poole Plaza. (Vision Event Photography)

The return to Vancouver’s regular tourism and business events calendar will happen almost immediately. On Friday, July 10, just three days after BC Place Stadium’s last match, the Vancouver Convention Centre is scheduled to host the city’s first post-tournament “citywide conference,” defined as a meeting with more than 1,000 out-of-town delegates.

Destination Vancouver notes that the meetings and conventions sector remains a key part of the local visitor economy, helping support hotels, restaurants, attractions, and businesses throughout the year.

The current pipeline for business events is also strong. Destination Vancouver and the Vancouver Convention Centre are now at 61 per cent of their annual citywide bid win goal, while citywide lead volume is tracking at 125 per cent of pace year-to-date.

Looking further ahead, 2027 is projected to become Vancouver’s busiest year on record for citywide conferences, exceeding the previous record set in 2018 by close to 20 per cent. Momentum is also continuing into 2028, with the team already at 85 per cent of its annual target.

Vancouver is also expected to see an all-time record cruise ship season at the Canada Place terminal this year, with about 360 cruise ship calls scheduled and more than 1.4 million passengers forecast. Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has also noted that July 2026 will be an all-time record for monthly cruise ship passengers, with nearly 290,000 expected over the course of the month and a similar volume for August 2026.

One of Vancouver’s most visible tournament images was “The Beautiful Dome,” which transformed Science World’s geodesic dome into the adidas Trionda — the official 2026 FIFA World Cup match soccer ball. It will remain in place until September 2026, after the end of the Science & Technology Exhibit from the FIFA Museum inside Science World comes to a close.

Destination Vancouver asserts this type of attention will be important to its goal of growing the value of Vancouver’s visitor economy from $9 billion to $11 billion over the next few years.

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The last banner panel installed on June 3, 2026; installation process for the giant adidas FIFA World Cup Trionda soccer ball transformation of Vancouver’s Science World dome. (Joss Ross Films/Science World/Destination Vancouver)

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Aquabus ferries in Vancouver’s False Creek with the FIFA World Cup Trionda soccer ball. (Aquabus)

The full tourism and economic impact of the tournament will take time to measure. Destination Vancouver notes that visitor behaviour during a mega event can be different from normal travel periods, and hotel occupancy was one of the most closely watched indicators during the tournament.

As of June 27, 2026, Downtown Vancouver hotel occupancy was 75 per cent — down from 91 per cent for June 2025. However, Destination Vancouver asserts that Vancouver was still one of the better-performing host cities, and other indicators are pointing to a strong rest of the summer.

Hotel occupancy for July and August 2026 is forecast to exceed 90 per cent, while short-term rental demand is currently pacing up by double digits compared with last year from July through September 2026.

While occupancy was softer in June 2026, average daily room rates were much higher during the tournament weeks. In the latter half of June 2026, average daily rates climbed above $500 — about 30 per cent higher than 2025 levels, suggesting that even with fewer filled rooms, the demand that did materialize was higher value.

“People often ask whether hosting an event like the FIFA World Cup is worth it,” said Chwin.

“There’s a better question to ask. The real question is what happens because of it. If a family books their first trip to Vancouver next summer, if an international association chooses Vancouver for its convention, or if another global event decides this is the city it wants to call home, that’s the legacy we’re building.”

Last week, Vancouver City Council approved the measure of extending the Granville Street Pedestrian Zone through the Labour Day weekend in early September. This amounts to a seven-week extension through the remainder of the peak tourism season, as opposed to the original plan of running the experience for the entire five weeks of the tournament period up until July 19.

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Victory celebrations on Granville Street in Downtown Vancouver on June 28, 2026, after Canada’s historic FIFA World Cup round of 32 match win against South Africa. (Kenneth Chan)

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Vancouver’s Granville Street Pedestrian Zone during the FIFA World Cup, as seen on June 25, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

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