Not only are bars and restaurants seeing higher sales with the FIFA World Cup in town – Vancouver nightclubs are also winners of being a host city of this tournament.
According to the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA), nightclubs have been experiencing record-breaking sales over the last few days.
“Since the start of the pedestrian zone, which is of course the FIFA World Cup timeline, sales are up about 30 per cent,” said Jane Talbot, president and CEO of the DVBIA.
“Another one said they are up by 1000 per cent. Third said that it was a record-setting week. Last week, after the end of the first week, one of them said to me that it was their best week in 11 years.”
She adds that many of those nightclubs have had a couple of tough years behind them, with COVID-19 and other disruptions causing some establishments to go out of business.
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“Sales are high; they’re better than expected; they’re breaking records in some cases, and it is paying off because these businesses were waiting for basically four years for this experience, and some of them didn’t make it to this point. And those that have held on are reaping the benefits,” Talbot explained.
After almost two weeks into the international soccer tournament, Talbot adds that most nightclub visitors, whether locals or tourists, have been well behaved with only a few exceptions.
“We do need to remind the public that this is not an environment where you can walk around and enjoy a beer walking down the street. There are some very clear open container laws in place, and the Vancouver Police Department will be monitoring that, especially as we move into the game on Wednesday,” she said.
She expresses the hope that the businesses can ride on this wave for a bit longer, possibly beyond the World Cup, as the Granville Pedestrian Zone benefits the entire hospitality industry.
“None of us really knew exactly what to expect. We weren’t sure how busy the city would be. We weren’t sure how busy the Granville Pedestrian Zone would be. And there was a lot of hope riding on this initiative.”
– With files from Raynaldo Suarez.