Earth’ s biggest sports tournament is coming to North America this summer, but its seismic effect on the hospitality industry is already being felt.
Hosting duties for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be shared by three countries— the United States, Canada and Mexico— and for 40 days, an estimated seven million international visitors will flood the continent in the spirit of sport and splendor.
From the opening ceremony in Mexico City’ s Estadio Azteca on June 11 to the championship match at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N. J., on July 19, this unprecedented experiment in international sports travel will dominate terrestrial life. Estimates predict 75 % of travelers will visit one of the 11 U. S. host cities, creating a singular moment for national hospitality.
A CONTINENTAL EXPERIENCE This year’ s World Cup will certainly look different structurally from four years ago. In 2022, Qatar hosted the tournament, prompting the government to build an entire city complex in Doha from scratch, linking all stadiums, lodging and amenities a short distance apart by newly minted roads. This time, teams play all their first-round matches in different cities, requiring huge jumps in distance. Consider perennial favorite Germany, which plays matches in Houston, Toronto and New York.
For German-born Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality analytics at CoStar Group and avid“ football” fan, the logistical challenges of attending matches are not to be underestimated.“ People who don’ t understand American geography don’ t have a sense of the proportions,” he said.“ In Europe, everything is like an eight-hour car drive away, but in the west, you’ ve got to fly everywhere to bridge those distances.”
The price point of tickets will play an outsized role in booking a hotel, said Freitag, not to mention team schedule, tournament success and the cost of travel, but operators should remain confident that hospitality sectors in all regions will see a healthy bump thanks to the games.
“ If Cape Verde suddenly makes it to the Round of 16— which would be a huge surprise— obviously they won’ t have as many fans as Brazil, [ but ] if you end up with one of the last 16 teams, people just like to watch soccer,” he said.“ Stadiums are going to be sold out, which implies hotels should bank on that demand no matter where it’ s coming from.”
The spread-out nature of the tournament will afford smaller host cities, such as Seattle, Kansas City and Vancouver, the opportunity to capitalize on compressed demand, while larger cities, including Atlanta and Los Angeles, can diffuse the demand influx to a variety of peripheral, tertiary markets.
Travelers on the East Coast can commute between venues, but for many, it will be a week-to-week journey across the country as the tournament progresses. Rob Smith, president & CEO of Stonebridge Companies, a third-party management company, counsels hoteliers to set appropriate rates early to capitalize on the surge.
“ The majority of international [ bookings ] come six months before, and U. S.- based comes in 60 to 90 days,” said Smith.“ The one thing we must be worried about is that there’ s not much movement 30 days out, so make sure your cake is baked before you get
STADIUMS ARE GOING TO BE SOLD OUT, WHICH IMPLIES HOTELS SHOULD BANK ON THAT DEMAND NO MATTER WHERE IT’ S COMING FROM
– JAN FREITAG, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF HOSPITALITY ANALYTICS, COSTAR GROUP
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