World Cup flight, hotel bookings spike although US violence casts shadow

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Flight bookings to North America have spiked since the soccer World Cup match schedule was announced in December, data from travel technology firm Amadeus showed on Tuesday, with 18% of those reservations made by British travellers.
European travel to the United States has dipped since President Donald Trump’s election in November 2024, with many tourists deterred by greater scrutiny at border crossings.
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Although a recent rise in violence tied to ICE detentions in the city of Minneapolis has amplified fears among some, data from World Cup watchers and Amadeus show that bookings are up, particularly among England and Scotland fans.
Of the bookings made for the time frame of the tournament, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 37% were in the month since the draw.
However, the data does not show whether more recent immigration raids in the U.S. have had an impact on 2026 bookings. And a major sports event does not guarantee a travel boost to the host country, as shown by the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“The tournament is a chance to see the most talented football players in the world and fans will go almost anywhere to watch the finest, whatever the policies and politics of the host country,” said travel analyst Paul Charles.
“However, safety is a key factor too, so visitors will be hoping that calm prevails in host cities and that their travel insurance will remain valid for their planned trips in June and July,” added Charles, who is CEO of consultancy The PC Agency.
The largest spike of bookings per day was seen for the first match in New York City between Brazil and Morocco, with over 2,500 flight bookings, the Amadeus data shows.
Hotel bookings in Canada and Mexico have also risen, with the average occupancy of hotels in Mexico City on the nights ahead of three planned matches there at 21%, up from 4% for the same time last year.
Reporting by Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Alexander Smith
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Joanna reports on airlines and travel in Europe, including tourism trends, sustainability and policy. She was previously based in Warsaw, where she covered politics and general news. She wrote stories on everything from Chinese spies to migrants stranded in forests along the Belarusian border. In 2022, she spent six weeks covering the war in Ukraine, with a focus on the evacuation of children, war reparations and evidence that Russian commanders knew of sexual violence by their troops. Joanna graduated from the Columbia Journalism School in 2014. Before joining Reuters, she worked in Hong Kong for TIME and later in Brussels reporting on EU tech policy for POLITICO Europe.