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NYC hoteliers are world-class worried over sluggish World Cup bookings
By
Arun Venugopal
Published May 6, 2026
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By
Arun Venugopal
Published May 6, 2026
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John Fitzpatrick, the owner of two Manhattan hotels, was initially thrilled when FIFA, the governing body of the World Cup, awarded the world’s biggest sporting event to the United States. Since then, his hopes for a tourist bonanza have dimmed.
“We expected big numbers and everything,” Fitzpatrick said, “but it's definitely not showing any sign of that at all.”
He isn’t the only hotelier expressing doubts. Two-thirds of New York City hotel owners surveyed report softer-than-expected World Cup bookings, according to a new survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, a leading national trade group.
At once, the average summer game-day hotel room rate in New York City fell 24% between Dec. 28 and April 12, a bigger drop than any other of this year's host cities, according to new data from Lighthouse Intelligence reported this week by Business Traveler.
The findings, coming just weeks before the 2026 World Cup's opening game in June, have fueled growing concerns within the city’s hospitality industry that the big economic payouts it had been counting on might not materialize. The Hotel Association of New York City, representing some 300 hotel owners, is already using the slower bookings data to push for lower lodging taxes – while not yet abandoning hope for a busy summer.
"With international tourism still in decline and hotel bookings for the tournament period running well below expectations, the city must act to ensure hotels can attract World Cup visitors to fill rooms and maximize the event’s economic impact,” Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, said in a statement that also called for property tax relief and lower room taxes.
The region is scheduled to host eight games during the tournament, including the July 19 World Cup finale at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium – temporarily dubbed New York New Jersey Stadium. The New York-New Jersey host committee projected last summer that the games would draw 1.2 million visitors to the area, generating a $3.3 billion economic impact, including $432 million in state and local taxes.
Officials in the administration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani have sought to stoke excitement by hosting a free World Cup watch party in each borough, and the city’s main tourism booster has courted tourists abroad with an international public relations campaign.
But travel industry groups for months have said economic tariffs, immigration enforcement and other Trump administration policies have discouraged international tourism – no less than from neighboring Canada – and that was before the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February. The war has caused steep increases in oil prices and airline fares.
Future hotel bookings in New York City are well below where they were this time last year, said Jan Freitag, national director for hospitality analytics for the CoStar Group, a commercial real estate data provider.
The company said that as of April, city hotels were at 18% booked for the period of June and July. At the same time one year ago, when tariffs and federal immigration policies were already causing a drop-off in international travel to the five boroughs, future bookings for the June-July period were at 26%, Freitag said.
Freitag said it was still “early days” and that the tourism boom could still emerge. He also expressed confidence that the city’s luxury properties would do “pretty healthy” business during the World Cup.
“The question is how does this trickle down? The idea was always that the World Cup would be also attracting the middle-income visitors from England, from Germany, from Brazil,” he said.
Freitag said another complication for the city’s hotels was related to conventions. Many convention organizers, he said, would’ve opted to avoid New York City during June and July, under the assumption that room prices would be significantly higher and restaurants packed. This meant that hotels would need to make up that lost business, he said.
The NY-NJ Host Committee declined to comment on the concerns, referring questions to the city’s main tourism booster, NYC Tourism and Conventions.
Tiffany Townsend, a spokesperson for the tourism booster, said the organization has its “Where the World Comes to Play” promotional campaign running in 20 international markets and has recently expanded its reach.
Townsend said advance hotel booking data for the World Cup was showing improvement in recent weeks and that the booking window for many travelers was short, indicating that many tourists would book closer to the tournament.
Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, said his organization was working with city government and other groups “to ensure small businesses are prepared to make the most of this opportunity.”
“We’re confident the World Cup will bring energy, visitors, and economic activity to New York City,” Rigie said in a statement. “Bars and restaurants will be at the center of that experience, with locals and visitors gathering to watch matches and celebrate.”
Hotel owners said the lukewarm World Cup projections would likely compound ongoing challenges.
The number of international visitors who traveled to New York City in 2025 was 2.4 million below industry projections, according to a new white paper prepared by James Lima Planning and Development for the Hotel Association of New York City, a group that represents the owners of 300 hotels.
The paper attributed the decline to federal policies and “global political and economic shocks,” and noted that 12.3 million international tourists had visited the city last year, well below the prep-pandemic figure of 13.5 million in 2019.
Dandapani from the Hotel Association of New York City said the moment was ripe to cut taxes for the struggling industry, saying in the statement: “Supporting hotels means supporting the tens of thousands of workers they employ and the wider tourism economy that drives New York City."
Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick, a native of Ireland whose properties include the Fitzpatrick and Fitzpatrick Grand Central in Midtown, said he worked hard to lure European travelers for the World Cup, even tracking down tickets for some potential visitors, only for them to be turned off by the $1,500 price per ticket.
“ And they weren’t down by the front row, so I think they've overpriced it,” he said.
He was also concerned by reports that several major airlines were cutting back significantly on flights, owing to higher oil prices. The result, he said, would likely be higher airfares that would discourage last-minute travelers from making the trip to the United States.
Ultimately Fitzpatrick said he expected the summer to be a typical one for the city’s hotel industry, not unlike any other year.
“ We don't see a huge upside,” Fitzpatrick said. “It's very disappointing.”
Tagged
World Cup 2026
economy
new jersey
new york
soccer
transportation
Arun Venugopal
Arun Venugopal is a senior reporter for the WNYC and Gothamist Race & Justice Unit who focuses on issues of race and bias in our region. His reporting also tackles the topics of immigration, faith, and inequality. Arun serves as the regular fill-in host of the station's "U.S. of Anxiety" program. Arun was the creator and host of Micropolis, a series about race and identity. He is a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has appeared on PBS Newshour, On the Media and Studio 360, and has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and Salon. He also frequently serves as an emcee and moderator of panel discussions on race, religion, and identity issues and has been a guest host of NPR's "Fresh Air." He lives with his family in Queens.
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