World Cup travel pushes up airfares, hotel demand trails

Dhaka: Travel tied to the FIFA World Cup is driving up airfares to host cities in the United States, even as hotel demand in those cities has been running below expectations, according to data released by American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT).

Amex GBT's Business Travel Pulse for June, based on the travel management company's data and expert analysis, showed airfares to World Cup host cities are seeing sharp increases, compared with moderately climbing fares to non-host cities.

On domestic flights, those increases averaged 42 percent year-on-year, while routes from Europe to host cities were up an average of 13 percent, the report said.

However, Amex GBT noted that more than half of hotel owners in host cities are seeing demand below both forecasts for the tournament and typical booking patterns for June and July.

Even so, contracted rates from the 2026 sourcing season were already up in host cities, most sharply in Toronto, climbing 4.8 percent year over year.

"We expect rates to continue climbing throughout the tournament and closer to match days," Amex GBT said in the report, advising travel managers to monitor the trend and re-enter conversations with hotels in cities showing a slump in demand.

The report added that overall business travel prices rose 8.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, driven largely by higher jet fuel prices.

By comparison, prices were up 4.7 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 4.5 percent in the third quarter of 2025, the report said, pointing to a steady acceleration in business travel costs heading into the World Cup season.