The World Cup was not quite the glowing success the hotel sector had expected
The FIFA World Cup was a major success in many ways, but perhaps not the blockbuster event the U.S. hospitality industry was hoping for.
Prior to the tournament, soccer’s global governing body announced that the organization had received more than 500 million requests for the 7 million tournament tickets FIFA was selling. Such demand was expected to bring a swarm of international fans to North America to enjoy the tournament and fill up local hotels.
But the occupancy boosts never materialized for many properties. The CoStar Group told Bisnow that while soccer fans may have needed rooms, business and leisure travelers stayed away from the 11 U.S. host cities, negating much of the impact.
The high cost of hotel rooms and tournament tickets was a deterrent for foreign tourists to come to the U.S. Also playing a role was U.S. travel bans and visa restrictions for some countries.
The result was that occupancy didn’t improve as much as expected, but hotels were able to demand premium prices.
To use Los Angeles as an example, CoStar Group found that on World Cup match days between June 11 and July 25, the average daily rate (ADR) for hotel rooms was $244.09. That is a 23% increase over one year ago. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) reached $178.65, a jump of 25% from the same time last year. Occupancy was about 73%, a 2% gain from 2025.
While the room rate growth in Los Angeles may seem acceptable, it underperformed when compared to other major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, where room rates regularly increase by 100%.
Los Angeles’ room rate growth was in line with low- to mid-20% rate growth in Atlanta, Houston and Seattle. San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York-Newark reported average daily rate growth in the 30% range, according to Bisnow.
Hotel sector outlook still positive
Hotel operators, developers and lenders were hoping for a stronger World Cup boost following lackluster sector performance at the close of 2025.
According to a Moody’s Analytics piece published by Scotsman Guide, the U.S. hotel sector ended the year in a state of stagnation.
“Following a third quarter where national occupancy declined for a second consecutive time to 63.8%, causing RevPAR to fall 3.2% year over year, fourth-quarter indicators confirmed that occupancies had stabilized at these lower levels,” wrote Moody’s economist Mary Le.
But CBRE sees brighter days ahead for the sector.
The commercial real estate services and investment firm’s midyear outlook, published Tuesday, now forecasts that RevPAR will increase by 2.5% for the year, up from its earlier forecast of a 1.2% gain.
“This outlook is underpinned by stronger-than-expected momentum in Q1: RevPAR grew by 3.8% year-over-year, its best quarterly performance since Q1 2023, driven by a 1.1% gain in occupancy and 2.4% in ADR,” the report stated. “All hotel segments posted occupancy growth, with premium locations leading the way.”
CBRE acknowledged that the World Cup’s expected contribution was weighed down by room block cancellations, elevated airfares and lofty ticket prices.
“However, the shortfall has been more than offset by a robust recovery in domestic business travel and convention demand, which is the principal driver of the forecast upgrade and has emerged as the primary near-term growth catalyst after a difficult 2025,” the group wrote.
Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that commercial real estate lenders viewed the hotel sector positively during the first quarter. Originations for hotel properties increased 3% during the quarter, and there was an 85% increase in the dollar volume of hotel loans compared to the year-ago period.
