Pope Francis’ visit to the United States last month caused an increase in foot traffic, street closures and general hoopla, but what impact did it have on restaurant sales? Several media outlets reported that it was pretty brutal for restaurant sales, so Avero decided to dig into the raw data and see if that assertion is accurate.
After crunching the numbers, we found that the Pope’s visit caused a significant decrease in Philadelphia restaurant sales. Compared to the same time period last year (September 24-27), Philadelphia restaurants saw a sales decrease of 48.86% over the four days of the visit, with sharp decreases on Saturday and Sunday. The negative impact on sales began the day the Pope arrived with sales decreasing by 33.23%. The decrease accelerated throughout the weekend with Sunday being the worst day — restaurant sales dropped 65.32%.
Historic sales trends show a cyclical trend of low Monday and Tuesday sales and a gradual increase leading up to the weekend; however, sales for the week of the Pope’s visit remained flat, and restauranteurs did not enjoy their typical weekend sales boost.
Prior to the visit, Philadelphia built up the occasion as something that would boost the local economy and prepared for it as such, only to be severely let down. Famous restaurateurs such as Marc Vetri and Stephen Starr took to social media and other public forums to express their frustrations at the unexpected turn of events.
See more city-by-city restaurant sales trends on the Avero Index.
