The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men’s football championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA will take place from June 11th to 19th July, it will jointly hosted by 16 cities in three North American countries, the main host country of the matches is the United States, while Canada and Mexico will co - host and this tournament will be the first to be hosted by three nations.
With the countdown to this relevant event already underway, the United States is preparing for a wave of international visitors expecting to welcome more than 1.2 million people coming from abroad.
With games spread across 15 host cities, 11 in the U.S, 3 in Mexico and 2 in Canada, the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament is expected to trigger a strong rebound in international travel, revitalizing demand, filling hotels, and undoubtedly demonstrating the broad economic impact of this mega - event.
Tourism Economics, the leading global provider of economic impact studies, policy analysis, market forecasts, and international travel data, projects that the United States will welcome 1.24 million visitors to the World Cup,
After a difficult 2025 for international overnight in the U.S. , down 6.3% from 2024, international arrivals are forecast to recover by 3.7% in 2026, with nearly a third of that growth associated with the FIFA World Cup.
The wave of arrivals peaks in June 2026, when 57 of the 78 matches are played in the United States, adding a 10% increase to June’s year - on - year growth in international arrivals while July adds about 200.000 incremental visitors, representing an increase of 3.2%.
Tourism Economics considers that the singularly fervent football fan base sustains this wave. The international spectators will represent approximately 40% of the attendance in the American stadiums.
Regarding hospitality, Tourism Economics predicts that additional hotel room revenues related to the World Cup will increase between 7% and 25% in June 2026, with the sharpest increases on match days. With the July 2026 games included, some cities could see annual growth of between 1% and 5% in incremental room revenues.
Tourism Economics anticipates an incremental impact hotel room revenues in th United States markets approaching $900 million, the equivalent of 10 Super Bowls in a six - week period.
The global provider of economic impact studies added that In the U.S., it is estimated that the World Cup will add about 0.4% to total hotel revenues in 2026. At first glance modest, but substantial in absolute terms, taking into account that host cities represent only about 16% of the country’s quarters and that the boost is concentrated between June and July.
What is certain is that this history shows that the more advanced phases of the tournament strongly boost the rates. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the average daily rate (ADR) increased by 7.6% for each game in June, 14.4% for each game in July and soared by 46.9% in the final.
Finally Tourism Economics stated that the team calendars, which will be available after the announcement of the formation of the groups on December 5, 2025 will significantly influence the influx of visitors and hotel performance.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks a lot to read and note.