Kipp predicts the World Cup winners

Kipp predicts the World Cup winners

Who will lift the World Cup on Sunday? Actually, to a bevy of businesses, it doesn’t matter a jot – they’ve already come out on top.

July 7, 2010 4:09 by Sam Potter

The World Cup may not be over, but already a few winners and losers in business are emerging.

The National reports today on the boost the tournament has brought to the hotel industry in the UAE. Bars and entertainment areas are expecting bumper takings for the final on Sunday, and are looking beyond the tournament to think of ways to generate similar business in the future, says the paper.

“We have had a very good turnout and some people after the matches go to our restaurants,” says Nicola Zamboni, the director of food and beverage at the Media Rotana hotel. “We have had a lot of new faces in the hotel. It’s worked like a marketing tool for Media Rotana.”

And all this at a time of year when the hotels traditionally struggle. One of the biggest winners looks likely to be Barasti beach bar, whose giant “golf ball” stadium has been packed throughout the tournament. And after the event finishes, the stadium will remain in place for DJ events into August – it’s brought a boost to the parent hotel that organizers would like to replicate next summer.

“To be honest there’s nothing concrete, but we would look at doing something again,” says Derryn French, the director of marketing and communications at Le Meridien Mina Seyahi. “We’re going to regroup and discuss what we can do next year.”

Elsewhere the Telegraph in the UK reports that the British tourism industry has witnessed a huge surge in booking since the England team were unceremoniously dumped out of the event. The paper reported that travel companies could share in a collective jackpot of up to $1.5 Million a day as thousands sought to escape the gloom brought on by the team’s performance.

“It is as if the whole country needs a holiday to recover from a disastrous World Cup campaign,” said Kane Pirie, managing director of Travel Republic, a website that crashed under the weight of the heavy post-defeat traffic. “The top destination is Spain, so perhaps long- suffering England fans intend to adopt a new country in the hope of World Cup glory.”

And who could forget Bavaria? The Dutch brewery provoked FIFA’s wrath, the attention of the cops, and an awful lot of money-can’t-buy global publicity, when it sent a group of girls to “ambush market” a World Cup game. The move was an ethically dubious, but incredibly effective marketing technique.

Another winner to emerge from the tournament was Warren Buffett. The billionaire investor’s firm Berkshire Hathaway had a deal in place with one of its clients that would have seen it have to pay out around $30 million if France had won the tournament. The details of who purchased the coverage remain unclear, but Buffett came out on top when the French team spectacularly imploded and crashed out to the hosts.

Sadly, not everyone can win. The financial consequences of Al Jazeera’s disastrous early coverage of the event are unclear, but the company’s reputation certainly took a hammering. No doubt they’ll be hoping the old adage holds true: no one ever remembers the losers.