Hotel Rates Soar During Rugby World Cup

Society Nov 18, 2019

Nearly all of the almost 2 million tickets for the Rugby World Cup in Japan were sold, and hotels in provincial Ōita in particular benefited by raising their rates on match days.

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At this year’s Rugby World Cup, 45 matches were played at 12 different venues in Japan. The influx of fans from across the country and overseas led hotel occupancy and accommodation rates to soar on average by 47% and 69%, respectively. This was the finding of a study conducted by Atta, a company that produces travel apps.

The largest match-day average accommodation rate increase was 367% in Ōita, Ōita Prefecture, for the October 20 quarterfinal contest between Wales and France. Five matches were held in the city, with the cost of rooms rising 282% on average. According to the Atta study, the reason for the sharp increase was the lack of choices for fans because Fukuoka, in neighboring Fukuoka Prefecture, was too far from the stadium to serve as an accommodation option. Rates rose in Ōita in particular because fans were concentrated in hotels around the central train station, where a free shuttle-bus service to the stadium was available for overseas visitors.

Cities Where Match-Day Hotel Rate Increases More than Doubled

Date	Match	City	Increase
October 20	Wales vs France	Ōita	367%
October 2	New Zealand vs Canada	Ōita	356%
October 9	Wales vs Fiji	Ōita	282%
October 19	England vs Australia	Ōita	273%
October 13	Japan vs Scotland	Yokohama	215%
October 13	Wales vs Uruguay	Kumamoto	158%
September 22	England vs Tonga	Sapporo	135%
October 5	Australia vs Uruguay	Ōita	130%

Compiled by Nippon.com based on data from Atta. Where appropriate, hotels in nearby municipalities with easy access were included for each stadium. The benchmark used to compare hotel fees was the corresponding day during the week of September 2 to 8, which did not include any public holidays.

There was no significant rise in hotel fees for matches involving the Japanese national team, with the exception of its October 13 match. Nearly all of the Japanese matches were played at stadiums in large cities with ample hotel accommodation and easy access to the stadium, so no extreme peaks in hotel demand occurred. Another factor was that the September 28 match started early, at 4:15 pm, making it easier for fans to get back home after it finished.

Hotel Rate Increases for Japan Matches

Date	Match	City	Increase
September 20	Japan vs Russia	Tokyo	11%
September 28	Japan vs Ireland	Shizuoka	12%
October 5	Japan vs Samoa	Nagoya	30%
October 13	Japan vs Scotland	Yokohama	215%
October 20	Japan vs South Africa	Tokyo	21%

Compiled by Nippon.com based on data from Atta.

The next major international sporting event to be held in Japan will be the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. There is an abundance of hotel facilities in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but sports organizations and government bodies from around the world are already booking rooms. According to the president of Atta, Haruyama Yoshihisa, the rates for private lodgings may not rise so drastically as those of hotels, so they could be a good option for visitors.

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