• TheparishofChigwell@sh.itjust.works
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    2 hours ago

    You know I read yesterday that it’s not even true. Restaurants are not as full as reported. Warning though, it’s a lot of words and logic coming at you all at once you might want to take several drugs and wear your stimming clothes:

    Reports from host cities show that hotel bookings, restaurant foot traffic, and overall consumer spending are lagging far behind FIFA’s original multi-billion-dollar projections. Analysts point to astronomical flight costs, overpriced tickets, and a heavy reliance on domestic travelers rather than a massive influx of big-spending international tourists as the primary reasons the “boom” has stalled.

    Several mainstream outlets (including The New York Times, Fortune, and Axios) published reports detailing how the promised financial windfall has been “more middling than booming.” Key trends highlighted in those pieces match your description perfectly:

    1. The World Cup Economic Flop

    Reports from host cities show that hotel bookings, restaurant foot traffic, and overall consumer spending are lagging far behind FIFA’s original multi-billion-dollar projections. Analysts point to astronomical flight costs, overpriced tickets, and a heavy reliance on domestic travelers rather than a massive influx of big-spending international tourists as the primary reasons the “boom” has stalled.

    2. The Tipping Clash vs. The Reality

    The articles directly address a viral narrative that international—specifically European—fans are “ruining” servers’ incomes by not tipping. Pieces by Axios and the New York Post highlighted a cultural disconnect:

    • The Viral Complaint: Servers in hubs like New York, New Jersey, and Atlanta complained of “disgusting” tips (such as a $4 tip on a $300 tab from a group watching the Argentina vs. Algeria match). Because European service workers are paid full living wages and tipping is optional or minimal (typically 5%–10% for exceptional service), many visiting fans simply don’t comprehend U.S. “tipflation” or the prompt screens asking for 20% to 25%.
    • The Business Countermeasure: To protect their workers’ wages in light of the underwhelming economic boom, hospitality associations in cities like Kansas City, Atlanta, and Boston have actively pushed restaurants to implement a temporary 20% mandatory automatic gratuity on all checks during the tournament.

    (Oh noes, logic!)

    This effectively framed the lack of a “boom” not as a malicious refusal by Europeans to pay, but as a systematic failure of U.S. businesses overestimating international demand while failing to prepare for global cultural differences in service wages.

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 hour ago

      it’s a lot of words and logic coming at you all at once you might want to take several drugs and wear your stimming clothes:

      Isn’t ableism cute?!

      Jfc lmao these people are the ones pretending they have the moral high ground? Nice try.

      The surcharge should only be for people with stupid accents, keep the American’s cost low, and raise it to 35% instead of 20% for the euros.

      • TheparishofChigwell@sh.itjust.works
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        1 hour ago

        Yeah you are annoying so resorted to insults.

        Your whole last argument is just one massive ad hominem and tu quoque trainwreck. Instead of actually addressing the policy, it immediately pivots to attacking people’s characters and calling them hypocrites just to deflect.

        And the solution? Straight-up special pleading and geographic bias. Hiding behind tribalism to say “keep our costs low and jack theirs up to 35% because of their accents” isn’t an economic point—it’s just a double standard based on zero logic.

        Murica