How much Vancouver Airbnb hosts earned during FIFA World Cup
Although it feels like the FIFA World Cup was a lifetime ago, there’s some new data about how Vancouver Airbnb hosts fared during the tournament.
According to Airbnb, a “typical” host brought in $4,500 over the duration of the FIFA event period. In Toronto, that number was $3,400.
Airbnb also reported that Vancouver had a 24 per cent increase in new active Airbnb listings compared with the same time frame the year before.
In July, AirDNA, a platform that analyzes data on short-term rentals, reported that Vancouver short-term rentals brought in close to an additional $24 million in revenue during the tournament period.
In their analysis, they found that most short-term rental hosts had their revenue increase, but occupancy rates actually declined over the course of the soccer tournament.
For example, Vancouver saw a 33 per cent year-over-year increase in short-term rental revenue. But the majority of this (nearly $22.9 million) came from rate increases. Only about $840,000 was from additional nights.
“The 2026 World Cup was a win for short-term rentals, but not the one many expected. The tournament didn’t flood host cities with a wave of incremental guests; instead, it gave hosts pricing power,” wrote AirDNA in a report.
This means that while Vancouver short-term rental hosts didn’t necessarily book more nights, they earned more per night.
“Despite demand gains, the World Cup did little to lift occupancy due to significant supply growth leading up to the tournament,” the report reads.
In Vancouver, occupancy rate actually dropped by 15 per cent year-over-year, as the surge in short-term rental supply met “muted demand,” according to an email from an AirDNA spokesperson.
The story of Vancouver’s accommodation for the FIFA World Cup
The story of short-term rentals and hotels evolved significantly before and after the tournament.
In October of 2025, Airbnb sounded the alarm that Vancouver could face a 70,000-night shortfall during the World Cup, leaving 15,000 fans without accommodations. They warned that hotel prices would “soar by more than 200 per cent,” and the city had $78 million in economic activity at stake.
Given that the City of Vancouver charges a steep fee for short-term rental licences ($1,108), Airbnb also advocated for the City of Vancouver and the Province to consider a time-limited adjustment to make it easier for people to register as hosts.
In March, Daily Hive Urbanized took a look at what the hotel prices were listed at during the FIFA World Cup, and found sky-rocketing numbers. For example, a room downtown was listed at $1,723 a night.
But as we got closer to the FIFA World Cup kickoff, the narrative changed. Instead of people worrying that there wouldn’t be enough hotel rooms to host all the tourists, people became worried that hotel occupancy was actually down from the year before.
In May, the British Columbia Hotel Association (BCHA) reported that hotel occupancy in June during the FIFA World Cup was nine per cent lower than what it had been in 2025. In Downtown Vancouver, that occupancy was 15 per cent lower.
“Despite its global profile, FIFA has not generated the broad hotel demand many expected. Activity remains concentrated around match dates and continues to be shaped by late booking patterns, room block releases, and normal summer travel decisions,” read a release from BCHA.
BCHA blamed the public narrative, stating that “when consumers are repeatedly told there will be ‘no rooms available,'” many would choose not to visit Vancouver.
On July 8, Destination Vancouver shared some insights on how June’s hotel performance actually played out.
As of June 27, hotel occupancy for downtown Vancouver hotels was 75 per cent (compared to 91 per cent for June of last year),” they said in a press release.
Like short-term rentals, they also found that although occupancy was down, the average daily rate was “significantly higher than last year during tournament weeks.”
In the latter half of June, the average rate was $500 a day, about 30 per cent above 2025 levels.
“Demand remained valuable even if room nights shifted.”