Vancouver hotel rooms, FIFA World Cup game tickets still available with days to go

With just days to go before the FIFA World Cup kicks off, there are still plenty of ways to get in on the action.

Tickets are still available for the first of seven matches in Vancouver and as of Tuesday, there were tickets available for about $400 each.

Tickets for both of Team Canada’s Vancouver matches are also still available, with a ticket for the first game on June 18, starting at around $700.

There are also tickets still available to watch the games on the big screen at the FIFA Fan Zone.

Analysts say hotel occupancy in Metro Vancouver is hovering around 50 per cent, which is lower than at the same time last year.

But that could be due to major conferences choosing to avoid Vancouver during the FIFA World Cup.

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“They’re saying, look, I don’t want to compete with the fans for airfare, hotels, and restaurant seats, so let’s just hold off on a corporate event and either have it in March or in October,” Jan Freitag, the national director of hospitality analytics at CoStar, said.

2:36 Vancouver’s Granville Street prepares for FIFA fans

Short-term rentals may also be playing a role.

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“While we have a demand that’s level with last year, our occupancy is quite a bit lower,” Bram Gallagher, economics and forecasting director at AirDNA, said.

The company said that the number of short-term rental listings in Metro Vancouver has jumped 17 per cent in just the last two months.

But while demand for short-term accommodation trails most other host cities, Vancouver’s nightly rates are among the highest.

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“The average booked rate for game days and game eves in Vancouver, they are up 49 per cent,” Gallagher added.

Meanwhile, hotel rooms just outside of Vancouver are still available for several hundred dollars per night and some downtown hotel rooms are also available for around the same price.

The B.C. government says it expects bookings to pick up as the tournament progresses and analysts are watching what the cost will be for those nightly stays.

“We still think this is going to be a boost to the Vancouver hotel industry just because they can drive the rate,” Freitag said.