FIFA 2026 Hotels: Why 80% Are Running Below Forecast

The FIFA World Cup starts June 11 in North America. Five million tickets have been sold. And 80% of US hotels are running below their booking forecasts.

Context

The World Cup was supposed to generate a once-in-a-generation demand spike for US hospitality. Hoteliers across host cities adjusted room rates upward in anticipation, banking on an unprecedented wave of international visitors. The American Hotel & Lodging Association’s market survey, published this week, finds that expectation has not translated into bookings — and the gap is large enough, and consistent enough across markets, to be structurally driven rather than property-specific.

For travelers planning to attend, this pattern is worth tracking. The same conditions that have hoteliers worried — geopolitical uncertainty and elevated travel costs — are also suppressing international competition for rooms in most host cities.

The Detail

The AHLA’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Hotel Outlook, compiled from hoteliers across all US host cities, found 80% of respondents reporting booking pace below initial projections. The underperformance is concentrated in specific markets. Kansas City is the worst-performing city, with 85–90% of surveyed properties below forecast. Los Angeles and Dallas/Houston are tracking around 65–70% below expectations. Miami is the clear outlier: roughly 55% of respondents report booking pace in line with or ahead of expectations, along with Atlanta.

Seventy percent of hoteliers across markets cited visa barriers and geopolitical concerns as significantly suppressing international demand. The factors compound: the strong US dollar has made the trip more expensive for visitors paying in foreign currencies, airfares remain elevated, and several major international fan bases face friction at US border entry. FIFA room block cancellations contributed additional inventory displacement in some markets.

The sharpest irony is in the spending data. International World Cup travelers were expected to spend approximately 1.7x more than a typical international US visitor — making them the highest-value segment for hoteliers. That segment is precisely the one failing to materialize. Domestic travel appears to be partially filling the gap, but at lower average spend than the international projections had assumed.

Source: AHLA

Content created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.