US hotels cut summer rates amid weak demand for World Cup bookings

Hotels in US World Cup host cities reduced match-day room rates.
Prices in New York fell 24pc to $464 and in Boston 21pc to $486 from December peaks.
FIFA cancelled thousands of rooms booked for teams and technical staff.
Match tickets reached up to 20 times the 2022 Qatar prices with a full series at $6,900.
International demand stayed low due to ticket costs and other factors.

US hotels have cut summer rates amid weak demand for World Cup bookings. Hotels in host cities reduced match-day room prices as international travellers stayed away. Data from Lighthouse Intelligence showed declines from peaks late last year.

Average hotel room rates for the opening night on 11 June fell in cities including Boston by 21pc to $486, New York by 24pc to $464, and Philadelphia by 19pc to $245 when compared with bookings on 28 December. New York recorded the largest drop at 24pc while Kansas City saw only 1pc. Rates in other cities such as Dallas fell 21pc to $217.

FIFA cancelled thousands of hotel rooms booked for teams and staff. Individual match tickets cost an estimated five to 20 times more than at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with a full run to the final reaching a minimum of $6,900.

Joe Hanly from Lighthouse shared “The cities with the highest room rates are not always the ones seeing the strongest World Cup effect. Some markets are expensive because they usually are. Others are becoming more expensive much faster because demand is landing on a much smaller supply base. As a result a World Cup pricing strategy cannot be driven by the size of the event alone. It also has to reflect how each local market is behaving which dates are still gaining strength and where early optimism is starting to meet price resistance.”

Vijay Dandapani from the Hotel Association of New York City shared “It’s possible we will get some more demand but at this point it certainly will not be the cornucopia that Fifa was promising.”

Vijay Dandapani shared “It’s possible we will get some more demand but at this point it certainly will not be the cornucopia that Fifa was promising.”