US hoteliers say World Cup 2026 booking boom has not arrived yet
US hotel operators say FIFA World Cup 2026 has not yet produced the booking uplift many expected, with leaders pointing to travel frictions, high room rates and demand leaking to short-term rentals.
US hotel operators say forward bookings linked to FIFA World Cup 2026 are running below expectations across most American host markets, challenging early assumptions about a guaranteed summer windfall.An April survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association found hotel demand is behind typical seasonal levels in several host cities, while other markets are broadly flat versus a normal spring and summer.Michael Black, general manager at the Cloud One hotel in Manhattan, said: “I think everyone had hoped the games would lead to an influx of bookings, but with all going on in the world and the USA’s involvement, events are playing out differently for everyone.”Operators and industry groups have pointed to travel concerns among international fans, visa wait times, and the total cost of attendance, including ticket and local transport spend, as demand dampeners.Pricing strategy is also under scrutiny after some hotels raised rates sharply once the match schedule was announced, banking on fans paying premium prices close to kick-off.Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, said: “Fans that are used to traveling for tournaments know that this price will always go down.“There are many examples of hotel owners regretting that they priced too high and then panicking at the last minute and reducing prices.”Hotels near MetLife Stadium in New Jersey have been advertising rates far above typical nightly pricing on match nights, including ahead of the July 19 final, which risks pushing price-sensitive fans towards cheaper alternatives further from venues.Short-term rentals are capturing some of that spillover, with rental analytics pointing to rising bookings in metro areas around several host cities compared with the same period last year.Economist Andrew Zimbalist said major tournaments can also reshape travel patterns rather than simply adding new demand.“The general problem is that soccer tourists – and expected congestion, high prices and security concerns – push away normal business travel and tourism,” he said.In New York, Vijay Dandapani, president of the Hotel Association of New York City, said hotels are seeing an uptick but not at the levels suggested by the most bullish projections.He said city hotels are seeing a modest upswing in summer bookings, around 10% compared with the previous year, but well short of the windfall widely associated with the event.The mixed picture suggests the World Cup may deliver more of a late-booking surge shaped by match-ups and weekends, rather than a uniform uplift across the full tournament window.It also increases the importance of FIFA’s room block management and release timing, plus the extent to which fans commit to travel once ticketing phases and resale dynamics become clearer.Publicly listed hotel owners remain more optimistic that demand will firm as the tournament gets closer.Jon Bortz, chief executive of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, said: “We haven’t seen anything that would cause us to think it’s going to be less than what we were expecting.“Maybe other people had much grander expectations.”The next commercial test for operators is whether pricing resets, block releases and confirmed travel plans convert into a sharper pickup in the final booking window, particularly around the knockout rounds and the final.