Russia Faces an Uphill Climb to Turn World Cup Into Tourism Win
Skift Take
Who can blame travelers for wanting to sit this World Cup out given all the reasons (some valid) they get from news reports every day? FIFA could also have done more to assure travelers from countries like the U.S. and UK that Russia will have the welcome mat rolled out, at least while the matches are being played.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off on Thursday in Russia, and it's the country's first time hosting the quadrennial event. But with negative headlines of Russian hacking and spying plaguing travelers in the U.S. and Europe – two of the largest outbound markets for the World Cup – how will tourism arrivals in Russia compare to past years of the global event?
While travelers are usually able to separate politics from a place, that's arguably more difficult to do when the name of the country has been in the news almost every day for years, as has been the case with Russia. With the World Cup a platform to showcase its softer side, the country has dropped its visa requirements and made matches easily accessible in an attempt to put its best foot forward.
Some 2.5 million tickets have been allocated and sold as of last week for the 2018 World Cup, compared to 3.4 million attendees for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, according to FIFA, soccer's global governing body. That's a 26 percent drop in the number of tickets sold between 2014 and 2018.
It's unclear if FIFA decided to allocate fewer tickets for 2018 than it did in 2014 or if demand is softer for this year's event. FIFA didn't respond to Skift's request for comment before publication.
But it's apparent that fewer U.S. travelers have an appetite for the World Cup this time around. FIFA data show about 204,000 U.S. travelers attended the 2014 World Cup; for 2018, just 88,825 Americans have bought tickets, a 56 percent drop. Last-minute tickets will be on sale through the final match on July 15, but most tickets have already been sold.
The U.S.
