NEW YORK — Today, the Hotel Association of New York City presented its most recent data on the World Cup’s economic impact on city hotels, showing an unexpected surge in visitors for the final matches generated $74 million on top of the roughly $252 million earned earlier in the event.
This turnaround was likely the result of the countries that advanced to the final matches, which have far fewer barriers to entering the United States compared to others in the playoffs.
While final figures for the Sunday championship match are still being finalized, current estimates suggest it will contribute another $35 to $40 million, bringing total incremental hotel revenue closer to the original $300 million projection.
This is a welcome development after what had been an extremely disappointing tournament before the finals and dismal hotel bookings in the months leading up to the tournament.
Even the late surge of visitors is unlikely to bring the industry’s numbers back to pre-pandemic levels, particularly with new tariffs on Canada and other economic headwinds.
“City hotels, which have yet to fully recover from the pandemic, were counting on a successful World Cup to help offset a prolonged tourism slump, rising costs and thinning operating margins,” President and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York Vijay Dandapani said in a press release.
“While we’re pleased with the last-minute boost in World Cup revenue from the finals, hotels need urgent support to better capitalize on premier tourism events in the future and to continue to provide nation-leading compensation for its workers and billions in tax revenue for the city.”
As of April, hotels were only 18% booked for June and July compared to 26% at the same time last year.
One week ago, hotels were on track to generate only half of the original projected revenue of $300 million based on FIFA’s promise of 1.2 million World Cup tourists.
Compared with the same days last year, during a regular summer season in New York, hotel occupancy and revenue per available room were significantly weaker across much of the tournament period.
Occupancy for June 15, 16, 18, 19 and 20 was less than in 2025, and RevPAR also declined June 18 and 19 compared with last year.