The tourism windfall governments and hoteliers expected from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which runs from June 11 through July 19 across 16 host cities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, is failing to materialize, and industry executives are blaming the Trump administration.
A FIFA and World Trade Organization study projected the 39-day tournament would generate $30.5 billion in gross economic output for the United States alone. That demand has not arrived.
Hotel rates in five major host cities — Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Atlanta — have dropped by roughly a third from their match-day peaks, according to hospitality analytics firm Lighthouse Intelligence data cited by the Financial Times.
FIFA has cancelled tens of thousands of reserved rooms across all 16 host cities. In Philadelphia, approximately 2,000 of 10,000 originally reserved rooms have been released back to the market, the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association confirmed. In Vancouver, FIFA dropped around 15,000 nightly bookings — 70% to 80% of the rooms the organization originally held — according to the British Columbia Hotel Association.
Aran Ryan, director of industry studies at Tourism Economics, told the Financial Times that fan anxiety centers on three factors: record-high ticket prices, concerns about border crossings, and growing anti-US sentiment.
Bob Heere, a sports management professor at the University of North Texas, told KERA that Trump administration policies — including the US-Iran war and sweeping trade disputes — have sent a clear signal to international fans that they are not welcome.
FIFA raised prices for 40 of 104 matches in its most recent sales window. Category 1 seats for the final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey now carry a $10,990 price tag — a more than 70% jump from the $6,370 opening price when sales launched last year.
European consumer organizations filed a formal complaint with the European Commission calling the prices “exorbitant,” while Democratic lawmakers wrote to FIFA, accusing the body of “price gouging.”
Two World Cup participants — Haiti and Iran — appear on the US government’s travel ban list. Fans from roughly 50 countries may be required to post a $15,000 bond to obtain entry visas. ICE’s arrest of international tourists holding valid visas has further stoked fears.
New York and New Jersey’s FIFA Fan Festival at Liberty State Park, announced in June 2025, was cancelled in February. Several other host cities have since scaled back public fan events. The FIFA Club World Cup, held on US soil last summer, drew sparse crowds — and tournament organizers are now confronting the possibility of a repeat.
FIFA told KERA the hotel block cancellations were routine — rooms reserved as a buffer for staff, media, and tournament stakeholders, released as logistics firm up. Hoteliers who built revenue forecasts around a guaranteed international surge have been less reassured.
However, not all indicators are negative. Short-term rental demand in Dallas is surging during the tournament window, with some submarkets seeing booking spikes well above seasonal norms, according to AirDNA.
Jamie Lane, the firm’s chief economist, told Fortune that the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area — roughly an hour from MetLife Stadium — is seeing June demand up about 30% year over year, a spike he attributes to World Cup travel.
Domestic fans, who, according to Heere, are willing to pay more for tickets than international supporters, are expected to fill US stadiums regardless of foreign attendance.
US foreign visitor arrivals fell 6% in 2025 even as global tourism grew — a trend analysts have labeled the “Trump Slump.” The US-Iran war drove up oil prices and airfares, giving wavering fans a concrete financial reason to stay home.
The White House has called this the greatest World Cup ever, but the market is not buying it.
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