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The United States big birthday celebration is finally here. As you read this, I’m braving the heat, admiring the tall ships that are in New York City for the 250 bash.
If my algorithm is to be believed, the U.S. is going into the long weekend on a high, perhaps despite the Trump Effect. As the World Cup continues, the love for the United States continues to pour in from travelers, some of whom have decided to take a dig at the politicians, proclaiming that football is the key to world peace.
The numbers back up at least some of the vibes. Skift's global tourism reporter Bailey Schulz dug into the World Cup's hospitality scoreboard this week, and it turns out the tournament isn't the only bracket with winners and losers.
While hotels in host cities haven't seen the occupancy they hoped for, they are cashing in on rates. Match day RevPAR was up more than 40% on average across host markets through June 20, according to CoStar, with most markets posting double- if not triple-digit growth. Mexico led the pack — Monterrey was up nearly 280% on June 20 — while Kansas City topped U.S. gains, up 167% during the June 16 Argentina vs. Algeria match. (The Bay Area also hit triple digits that day, with an assist from San Francisco's Databricks Data + AI Summit.)
Why Kansas City? "I'd say the biggest factor in, I guess you could say winning, is the size of your market. How many hotel rooms are there? And clearly it's Kansas City," said Truist Securities analyst Patrick Scholes. "Of all the World Cup markets, that's the smallest number of hotel rooms. … 70,000 fans to Kansas City means a lot more than 70,000 fans to New York City."
Not every host market is celebrating. CoStar flagged Miami as the week's underperformer, with 15.3% fewer rooms sold than last year — rates were up, but RevPAR fell 6.5%. On match days, Philadelphia and Boston were the only U.S. host cities with RevPAR declines, down 13.9% and 2.8%. And Scholes said he hasn't seen the last-minute booking surge many operators were banking on, though he expects elevated rates to keep doing the heavy lifting.
The tournament runs through July 19. Whether the goodwill — and the room rates — hold through the knockout rounds is the question every host market is watching.
Also, in case you missed it, the TSA has weighed in on the world’s new found Ranch obsession.
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