Travel to host cities rises

The biggest economic boost of the World Cup is coming later than expected as the tournament enters its final days.

But for US businesses hoping for a football boom, that’s Better late than never.

In this week’s semi-finals, France and Spain will face each other in Dallas on Tuesday, and England and Argentina will face each other in Atlanta. Wednesday. Travel bookings accelerated As the field of opponents narrows and fans from around the world gather to watch high stakes matches.

Each of the U.S. host cities has seen an economic boost from football fans, according to the Bank of America Institute.

“You can see the World Cup impact on the ground,” said David Tinsley, senior economist at the Bank of America Institute. “Spending increased after the tournament began, with the strongest gains seen in restaurants and bars as consumers turned matches into social events.”

Personal spending in U.S. host cities increased 5% year over year from June 10 to July 5, with Kansas City leading the increase, according to an analysis of Bank of America credit and debit cards.

The impact could be much higher because the results only include spending with BofA cards in U.S. households and do not include cash, checks, and spending with international tourist or corporate cards.

Kansas City also saw the largest weekly hotel performance increase among host markets, with revenue per available room (RevPAR) rising nearly 50%, according to data from industry analysis firm CoStar. Philadelphia also saw a strong rise; Over the weekend, RevPAR was up more than 74% as the World Cup match coincided with July 4th celebrations and Americas 250 events.

This is a relief for hotel owners who were worried about soft advance hotel bookings and FIFA putting large blocks of rooms back on the market before the start of the World Cup.

The hotels are not sold out. In the final week of the tournament’s group stage, occupancy in U.S. host cities was down nearly 3% from last year; This suggests that some business and leisure travelers are changing their plans. But even in the early stages of the process World Cup, host city According to CoStar, hotels were charging 21% higher rates.

Demand from June 28 to July 4 was up 2.4% on last year, with RevPaR up 23%, despite there being 50% fewer matches at the World Cup than the previous week as the tournament moved into the knockout stage.

Alongside high-stakes matches, demand for short-term rentals has also increased, according to analytics firm AirDNA.

“I think in some of the games in the later stages people waited until they knew who was going to be playing,” said Braham Gallagher, AirDNA’s director of economic forecasting.

“Argentina shows what it looks like for fans to book a trip the moment their team wins,” said Bhanu Chopra, founder of RateGain Travel Technologies and creator of TravelGain Travel Technologies. FIFA World Cup 2026 Market Pulse Index. “Argentine fans are following the tournament closely and responding to bookings in real time.”

Chopra said flight bookings from Argentina have increased by about 46% year-on-year since the start of the tournament. Bookings to Atlanta from Argentina, where the team has played its last 16 games and will play its semifinals on Wednesday, have more than doubled during that time, rising nearly 108%.

Overall bookings to World Cup host cities are up nearly 4% compared to last year, data shows. Afterwards Flight bookings for the opening match were up nearly 75% compared to the previous week.

While flight bookings from Argentina to New York/New Jersey for the final are still down nearly 15% year-on-year, bookings from Argentina to Miami, host of the third-place match, are up nearly 17%.

Chopra said this showed that some Argentinian fans were trying to hedge rather than assuming their team would reach the final. If Argentina beats England, he expects bookings in New York to skyrocket.

Fans who book now will be able to stay on last-minute international flights, rare hotels or AirBnB rentals and meals to celebrate their team. Don’t forget your match tickets!

After the USA and Mexico were eliminated, resale prices for some quarterfinal matches dropped sharply. FIFA still had about 1,200, though. Mid-level tickets for the finale at the end of last week are selling for $7,380 each.