Hotels.com doubles down on Arsenal as football travel demand rises

Hotels.com has extended its global partnership with Arsenal under a new multi-year agreement, continuing a relationship that began in 2023 and strengthening the travel brand’s presence across the club’s men’s and women’s teams.The renewed deal includes matchday visibility at Emirates Stadium, player access and rights to develop content and campaigns aimed at Arsenal supporters around the world.Hotels.com senior vice-president of integrated marketing and creative Natalie Wills said: “There’s no question football has a unique power to unite supporters in a shared passion they’ll cross borders for.“As more travellers plan trips around meaningful experiences, we’re investing in partnerships that allow Hotels.com to show up in those moments of inspiration and intent.“We’ve seen this partnership work. Arsenal gives us cultural resonance, access to the kind of globally engaged traveller we want to reach, and football is an important way for Hotels.com to connect passion with travel.”The extension comes as Hotels.com looks to capitalise on the growing overlap between major football events and travel demand.The company said accommodation searches in Budapest rose by 1,300% during the Champions League final weekend compared with the same period a year earlier.Travel searches for north London also increased by 30% on matchdays during the final two months of the Premier League season, highlighting the commercial opportunity around supporter travel.Arsenal global partnerships and ventures director Omar Shaikh said: “Our supporters are at the heart of everything we do, and our partnership has helped create new ways for our global community to connect with us and share in some of our most memorable moments.”Hotels.com will also use Arsenal’s global audience to promote curated travel packages designed around domestic and European fixtures.The agreement reflects a broader trend of travel brands using football partnerships to reach supporters at the point where match attendance, international trips and accommodation purchases increasingly overlap.Arsenal, meanwhile, retain an established global travel partner capable of building supporter experiences around the club’s expanding domestic and European calendar.