The FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 is expected to give the country’s tourism a welcome boost, with international arrivals expected to see an uptick of 15% over 2013/2014 to surpass the 7 million mark. Average spend per trip is forecast to increase by 11%, as football-loving nations like Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the US and UK spend longer in the destination to watch the beautiful game and soak up the atmosphere.
Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro will take centre stage, however, Rio suffers from constrained hotel supply with 1,794 outlets to Sao Paulo’s 3,797, despite enjoying 50% more international visitors, and this pushes up average daily room rates. Euromonitor International predicts that the real winner of the World Cup 2014 will be Airbnb with already 6% of its global footprint in Brazil, and half of its listings based in Rio, so the peer-to-peer private rentals brand is ready to pick up the overspill from Rio’s hotels during the tournament.