Enterprising locals plan to cash in as visitors descend on Vancouver for FIFA World Cup

Enterprising residents in Metro Vancouver are capitalizing on an influx of tourists by renting out their homes and vehicles to visitors.

Set amongst towering trees on the North Shore, Crystal Higgins’ home is occasionally available on short-term rental sites, but only for a week or two per year.

She and her family decided to list it for the FIFA World Cup to see if there was any interest.

“We got really lucky. We had a group reach out to us last fall and requested to rent our home for three weeks from the middle of June through early July,” Higgins said during an interview with CTV News.

She initially struggled with the decision to rent the house out because it meant the family would be travelling during the world’s biggest sporting event rather than enjoying it in their hometown.

But after crunching the numbers and realizing the rental fee could cover all expenses for her family of four to spend three weeks in Spain and Italy—Higgins decided to do it.

“So we thought, ‘Hey, we really value travel so let’s go to Europe,’” she said.

They arrive back home a couple of days before the final match at BC Place, a round of 16 playoff game, so will still have a chance to soak in the gameday atmosphere in the city.

Some other entrepreneurs plan to stay closer to home but still have their own money-making ideas.

To help offset the cost of vehicle ownership, last fall 19-year-old Coquitlam resident Santi Morales began renting his car through a service called Turo—to “tourists who are coming in to visit their families,” he said.

“And also, local people who are looking at going on longer road trips and stuff like that,” Morales added.

The business proved so successful, he teamed up with family members to purchase a second vehicle to list on the app.

“With the World Cup, there’s definitely been a lot more demand in Vancouver,” Morales said. “For us personally, we have three trips over that time period alone making us over $2,000.”

That tidy profit might be enough to get him close to the action on the field.

“We’re potentially looking into buying some tickets for me and my dad because we’re both big soccer fans,” Morales said.