SEOUL and TOKYO— Hotels in these two gateway cities hit it big with the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan— the first World Cup to ever be held in the region and the first to be co-hosted. The tag-team cities attracted a total of about 800,000 foreign visitors in June paying sky-high rates that were up 20-40% over last year. Some 64 matches were played that month, attracting a total of 1.6 million stadium spectators. Both Seoul and Tokyo, which typically command the highest average room rates in the region, experienced growth in June of 44.7% and 23.2% respectively, according to the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte & Touche. This equates to ADR of US$72 and US$40. Interestingly however, occupancy increases were marginal, with Seoul actually reporting a decline compared to 2001. Not all Japanese markets boasted such strong performance. Osaka saw occupancy levels fall by 25.3% during the month. This was in part attributable to displaced domestic demand as many visitors decided not to travel on account of the World Cup. Of the 28 markets tracked by the HotelBenchmark Survey across the Asia Pacific region, only seven reported double-digit increases in RevPAR in June 2002 on the prior year (when measured in US dollars). Jakarta experienced the largest increase of some 44.4%— albeit from a low base— followed by Seoul, Auckland and Tokyo, which all reported increases in excess of 25%.
