NEW YORK (AP) — The promised economic boon from the World Cup hasn’t matched expectations, at least not yet, for U.S. hotels.
Room bookings have been lighter than expected in most of the 11 U.S. cities hosting the world’s most watched sporting event, according to an April survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
In several cities, including Kansas City, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle, a majority of hotel operators said bookings were actually running behind typical seasonal demand. In others, including New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston, demand was flat so far compared with a regular spring and summer, according to the association.
The hotel association blamed travel concerns from international fans, worries about wait times for a U.S. visa and the cost of attending the tournament — including high ticket prices and transit costs in some cities— as major factors in the softer-than-expected demand.
“I think everyone had hoped the games would lead to an influx of bookings, but with all going on in the world and the USA’s involvement, events are playing out differently for everyone,” said Michael Black, general manager at the Cloud One hotel in Manhattan.
Concerns about softer-than-expected bookings extend to Mexico, which is co-hosting the games with the U.S. and Canada. Hotels in Mexico City, which hosts the tournament’s opening match on June 11, are about 30% to 36% booked, according to the Asociación de Hoteles de Ciudad de México.
Many hotels jacked up their prices after the tournament's schedule was announced, anticipating that soccer fans would pay exorbitant rates if they were able to score tickets to a match.
Near MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, for example, one hotel that normally charges around $200 a night was advertising a rate of $800 on nights around June World Cup matches. The costs soar to more than $1,300 a night ahead of the July 19 final.
Many seasoned fans are probably still waiting for those prices to drop, said Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, a Germany-based fan advocacy group.
“Fans that are used to traveling for tournaments know that this price will always go down,” Evain said. “There are many examples of hotel owners regretting that they priced too high and then panicking at the last minute and reducing prices.”
Others have already likely secured cheaper lodging farther from the stadiums or through Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms, he added.
Indeed, the metropolitan regions around Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco, Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale are all enjoying an uptick in short-term rental bookings compared with the same period last year, according to a recent report from AirDNA, a rental data firm that tracks bookings on Airbnb and Vrbo.
Airbnb said last week that the number of guests expected to stay at its rental listings during the tournament is expected to exceed earlier estimates and even end up surpassing the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris as the biggest hosting event in the company’s history.
More than 5 million tickets have been sold for the tournament so far, out of the more than 6 million expected to be offered for all 104 matches, according to FIFA.
While many of those attending the tournament will be travelers who need hotel rooms, global events like the World Cup also tend to discourage other types of visitors, said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College in Massachusetts.
“The general problem is that soccer tourists — and expected congestion, high prices and security concerns — push away normal business travel and tourism,” he explained.
Vijay Dandapani, president of the Hotel Association of New York City, said city hotels are seeing a modest upswing in summer bookings -- around 10% compared with the previous year — but nowhere close to the windfall promised by FIFA and other tournament boosters.
In Vancouver, Canada, which is hosting seven matches, hotel occupancy is down from the same time last year, but the industry is optimistic business will pick up closer to the games, says Paul Hawes, CEO of the British Columbia Hotel Association.
In Kansas City, where some 90% of respondents to the American Hotel & Lodging Association survey reported bookings below expectations, tourism officials are still holding out for a record-breaking number of visitors.
“While hotel occupancy in Kansas City has not followed the trajectory originally predicted by FIFA, there are positive indicators for Kansas City on the horizon,” said Derik Detter, market research director at Visit KC.
Jon Bortz, CEO of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, a real estate investment company that owns dozens of hotels nationally, is equally positive.
Overall, he said, occupancy rates are up at its many host city properties compared with last year, though he acknowledged cities like Boston with more marquee matchups are performing better than cities like San Francisco that host less in-demand games.
“We haven’t seen anything that would cause us to think it’s going to be less than what we were expecting,” he said. “Maybe other people had much grander expectations.”
Associated Press reporters David Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri, Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City and Jim Morris in Vancouver contributed to this story.
Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo
FILE - An aerial view of the NRG Stadium, one of the stadiums that will host 2026 FIFA World Cup matches, in Houston, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. The Astrodome is pictured on right. (AP Photo/Jon Shapley, File)
A general view of Arrowhead Stadium as it is rebranded as Kansas City Stadium, Monday, May 11, 2026, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer matches in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted Tuesday that he has no intention of resigning as calls grew louder within his Labour Party for him to step down and some junior members of his government quit in protest.
Starmer tried to shore up support within his Cabinet following a febrile few days in the wake of hefty losses for the Labour Party in local elections last week, which if repeated in a national election that has to be held by 2029 would see it overwhelmingly ejected from power.
Though no one in his Cabinet has quit or publicly stated that the prime minister should set out a timetable for a change in leader, several junior ministers stepped down. The resignations stoked speculation that Starmer could suffer the fate of Boris Johnson in 2022 when dozens of ministers quit en masse and forced his departure.
Around 90 Labour lawmakers, or more than a fifth of the parliamentary party, have now said Starmer should stand down or at least set out a timetable for his departure.
That's not enough to trigger a leadership contest, though, as no candidate has issued a challenge to the prime minister. Under Labour party rules, a fifth of its lawmakers in the House of Commons, or 81 members, must publicly give their backing to a single candidate, for a leadership contest to take place.
On Tuesday, several junior ministers, some of whom were only elected for the first time in Labour's landslide election victory of July 2024, resigned and urged Starmer to do the same for the good of the country as well as the party.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, minister of housing, communities and local government, became the first member of his government to step down, urging Starmer “to do the right thing for the country” and set a timetable for his departure.
She was followed by Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister and a prominent member of the Labour Party. In her resignation letter, she described Starmer as a “good man fundamentally” but unable to make bold changes.
“I know you care deeply, but deeds, not words are what matter,” Phillips said. “I’m not sure we are grasping this rare opportunity with the gusto that’s needed and I cannot keep waiting around for a crisis to push for faster progress.”
Despite winning a landslide election victory in July 2024, Labour’s popularity has sunk and Starmer is getting much of the blame.
The reasons are varied, including a series of policy missteps, a perceived lack of vision on the prime minister's part, a struggling British economy and questions over his judgment — especially over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington despite the envoy’s ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
At the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Starmer said he took responsibility for the losses in last week’s elections but that he would fight on.
Labour was squeezed from the right and the left, losing votes to both anti-immigrant Reform UK and the Green Party, as well as nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales. The result reflects the increasing fragmentation of U.K. politics, long dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.
Starmer told his Cabinet that there’s a process to oust a leader and that it hadn't been triggered.
“The country expects us to get on with governing,” Starmer said. “The past 48 hours have been destabilizing for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.”
That cost was evident in financial markets on Tuesday, with the interest rate charged on British government bonds up by more than those of comparable nations. That shows that investors think it's increasingly risky to hold British government debt.
As Cabinet members left 10 Downing Street, some voiced their support for the embattled prime minister.
Works and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said nobody publicly challenged Starmer at the meeting, while Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the prime minister was showing “really steadfast leadership.”
Later, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy warned Labour lawmakers that the only beneficiary of the party's “navel-gazing” over Starmer's position is the populist right.
“He has my full support, and what I say to colleagues is, look, let’s just step back," he said. “Take a breath.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, long believed to be preparing for a leadership challenge against Starmer, was among senior ministers who dodged a barrage of shouted questions from a gaggle of reporters outside.
“Wes Streeting, do you want the job, or not?” a man yelled from across the street. “Are you measuring the curtains?”
The other two names often touted as possible successors are Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister who had to quit last year over an unpaid tax bill. She has long set herself apart as a different kind of politician with a compelling personal story, brought up in social housing and leaving school at 16 as a teen mother.
Andy Burnham, the popular mayor of Greater Manchester, is widely perceived to be one of the strongest candidates. but is not eligible to stand at present, because he’s not in Parliament. So to get in the race, he'll have to find a seat where he can be elected. That may involve a close ally of his in the northwest of England vacating his or her seat for him to stand. However, he may be blocked as was the case earlier this year or even if sanctioned, could lose, if last week's results are any guide.
Danica Kirka and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.
A bookmaker takes bets for a possible next British Prime Minister on his betting board near Downing Street in London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Larry the cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office leaves 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting in London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the biggest threat yet to his authority after a growing number of disaffected lawmakers called for him to step down.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Larry the cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office leaves 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting in London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the biggest threat yet to his authority after a growing number of disaffected lawmakers called for him to step down.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens arrives for a cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the biggest threat yet to his authority after a growing number of disaffected lawmakers called for him to step down.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting arrives for a cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the biggest threat yet to his authority after a growing number of disaffected lawmakers called for him to step down.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband arrives for a cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the biggest threat yet to his authority after a growing number of disaffected lawmakers called for him to step down.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pauses as he delivers a speech, at the Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre in Waterloo, London, Monday May 11, 2026. (James Manning/PA via AP)
