Canada, Mexico Shutting Out U.S. in World Cup Hotel Bookings

The United States harbors ambitions for a deep run in the World Cup kicking off in North America this week, but it’s losing ground in one arena to its neighboring co-hosts.

Hotel bookings in Canada and Mexico — which are also hosting matches across the monthlong event — are outpacing most of the host cities in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported. It could prove to be a missed opportunity for the hospitality industry to seize on a global event, though it may not necessarily be the fault of the hotel operators.

The top occupancy rates among the host cities analyzed by CoStar Group — all but two — were Vancouver to the north and Guadalajara to the south, each sporting 48 percent occupancy. Three other cities in the two neighboring nations also cracked the 40 percent mark; only San Francisco did so in the United States (44 percent).

For the non-American host cities, there are several advantages emerging compared to its counterparts.

One is that many of the cities in Mexico and Canada are more affordable overall than those in the United States. That includes costs that are not directly related to tickets (which are already expensive for many games), such as transportation; there have been viral stories about the price hikes for train tickets to games at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, for instance.

There’s also the political climate of the United States. Foreign visitors may feel detainment or deportation as Immigration and Customs Enforcement aggressively operates under Donald Trump’s administration. Even competitors are not immune from those problems, as Iran faces travel restrictions while being based in Mexico for the early stages of the World Cup.

A similar story is unfolding in the short-term rental market. Rentals in Mexico, for instance, are booking at lower rates than those in Canada or the United States, prompting a stronger pace in growth demand.

While the hospitality story is not going the way many U.S. hoteliers would’ve hoped, not all is lost for the industry yet.

“If you look at some historical booking patterns, up to 40% of bookings materialize within 0 to 6 days before the match,” Host Hotels & Resorts chief executive officer Jim Risoleo recently said.

— Holden Walter-Warner