Impact of the Olympic Games on the host city's lodging market

The Olympic Games, a sports mega-event, receives tremendous worldwide attention. Many industries of host countries have seen distinct benefits from hosting the Olympic Games. The tourism and hospitality industry also has been affected dramatically because of the short-term concentration of visitors. This major change is readily observed in the host city's lodging market.;This study investigates the host city's response to the Olympic Games which is demonstrated by the change in the six metrics of the hotel industry: supply, demand, occupancy rate (Occ), average daily rate (ADR), revenue, and revenue for per available room (RevPAR). All data is sourced from Smith Travel Research Global having been collected from four years prior to the Olympic Games until two years after the Olympic Games. Two Summer Olympic Games and two Winter Olympic Games host cities are discussed in this study: Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games, and Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The change of the six important metrics in the hotel industry shows how the host city's lodging market is affected by the Olympic Games.;The results clearly show that the host city's lodging market reacts significantly to the Olympic Games. The six metrics of the lodging market of the four host cities improved tremendously during the Olympic Games but showed different trends before and after the Olympic Games. Moreover, the change happened more significantly during the Olympic year.