FIFA Vancouver guests could bring in nearly $300 million to region despite room shortage
With the FIFA World Cup less than five months away, Airbnb is projecting how much revenue their guests will bring to Vancouver.
According to a report from Deloitte, Airbnb guests visiting the city during the FIFA World Cup this year will result in $25 million in direct host earnings, which averages to about $2,200 per host during FIFA.
They also estimate that the total economic output of their guests will be at $298 million across Vancouver and nearby areas.
In the report, Deloitte notes that “tourists’ spending initiates a chain reaction throughout the economy, starting with direct impacts on sectors such as accommodations and restaurants.”
“As businesses respond to this increased demand, indirect effects ripple throughout the supply chain. Additionally, induced effects arise as higher wages circulate within the economies, further stimulating economic activity across different sectors,” the report reads.
They estimate that Airbnb guests’ spending in Vancouver and nearby areas will support 1,590 full-time jobs throughout 2026.
Not enough rooms
Deloitte estimates that there will be 204,000 tourists visiting Vancouver and needing accommodation, which includes 32,000 Airbnb guests.
A spokesperson with Airbnb said in an email that their listings are much cheaper than current hotel rates, with 70 per cent of Airbnb listings in Vancouver being under $500 per night.
This is still well-above normal peak-season averages. In July 2025, the average rate for a one-bedroom Airbnb was $200, and the hotel average daily rate was $33o.
But according to Airbnb, Vancouver’s hotel daily rates during FIFA are at $1,950 per night.
Even when Vancouver isn’t hosting one of the world’s biggest sporting events, the city still faces a severe hotel shortage. Despite a surge in tourists in recent years, the city has the same number of hotel rooms it had in 2002 and a 10,000-hotel-room gap.
According to Destination Vancouver, the city’s hotels are already operating at near-capacity, with an 80 per cent average annual occupancy and up to 95 per cent during peak seasons.
Vancouver has over 5,800 hotel rooms across 29 projects in its development pipeline. But with a challenging development environment due to rising construction and borrowing costs, there’s a risk that many of the projects won’t go through to completion.
In 2024, Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour also highlighted the hotel shortage in the city, with almost all hotels in Metro Vancouver booked up a year before the tour. In the months and weeks before her concert, locals were advertising their homes to stay in during the event.
Vancouver will host the FIFA World Cup from June 11 to July 19, 2026.