Canada sees small bump in international visitors during FIFA World Cup, numbers show

Numbers released by Statistics Canada show that while the FIFA World Cup brought visitors to Vancouver and Toronto, the overall bump in international guests was relatively small.

International arrivals to Canada in June were up just 3.3 per cent and up 5.8 per cent in July, for a total of about 76,000 people.

Arrivals from countries that had World Cup teams playing in Canada were up by just 33,000, mostly from Australia, Panama and Germany.

Vancouver saw packed crowds at the FIFA Fan Festival at the PNE, the Granville Street Block Party and The Last Mile to BC Place, but many of those were likely local fans, one expert said.

“This was never an event that was going to deliver the economic benefits promised. It was always going to cost more, it was always going to lose money, and the fact that the data is now bearing it out is not at all surprising to me,” Moshe Lander, a sports economist with Concordia University, said.

“It really shouldn’t have been surprising to any political leader if they had done their due diligence, and that’s unfortunately a sign of the negligence with which they approached hosting this event.”

The B.C. government said the goal of hosting the World Cup was always boosting long-term economic benefits by showcasing the province to the world.

The FIFA Organizing Committee said a full accounting of the economic impact is expected next spring.