World Cup 2026 Boosts Flights Even as US Travel Stays Uneven

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is already driving stronger flight demand across many host cities in the US, Mexico, and Canada, said Sojern, a travel marketing company.

The company released the analysis and said bookings for the World Cup travel period are running ahead of last year in most host markets.

The tournament will run from June 11 to July 19, 2026, and will be played across 16 cities in three countries. It will also be the first men’s World Cup with 48 teams.

Many host cities are already seeing higher flight bookings

Sojern’s city data shows that several host markets are already posting strong year-over-year gains.

In the US, Dallas was up 42 percent, Houston 38 percent, Kansas City 27 percent, Boston 17 percent, Philadelphia 16 percent, and Atlanta 14 percent.

Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco also showed growth.

In Canada, Toronto was up 12 percent and Vancouver rose 8 percent, while Monterrey in Mexico posted one of the biggest increases at 67 percent.

Not every city is moving in the same direction. Seattle was down 16 percent, Guadalajara fell 9 percent, and Mexico City was flat. Still, the overall picture remains positive.

International demand is broad, and more may still come

The data also shows that demand is coming from a wide range of international markets. The United Kingdom accounted for 19.5 percent of international flight bookings into US host cities, while Canada represented 18.4 percent.

Sojern also reported notable demand from South Korea, Japan, France, Spain, and Italy.

Some markets may still book later. Argentina accounted for only 1.3 percent of confirmed flight bookings, but 8.2 percent of flight searches, the biggest gap in the dataset. That points to interest that has not yet fully turned into bookings.

Sojern also said Europe’s share of inbound demand to all World Cup destinations rose from 12 percent to 14 percent year over year, while Asia-Pacific increased from 6 percent to 7 percent.

Hotels and destinations may still be in the best booking window

Sojern said hotel demand for events like the World Cup often builds more strongly in the final six to ten weeks before travel.

The value of that demand could also be meaningful. Sojern said 65 percent of World Cup travelers were planning trips lasting six to 12 days or more.

Research from the U.S. Travel Association also found that international World Cup visitors are expected to spend more than $5,000 per trip on average and many are open to visiting places beyond the main host cities.

The wider US inbound market is mixed, but the World Cup window looks stronger

Sojern said broader inbound flight bookings to the US had been running between 1 percent and 6 percent below last year for much of the past nine to 10 months.

The National Travel and Tourism Office forecasts that international arrivals to the US will rise to 85 million in 2026, up 10.2 percent from 2025. Philadelphia officials also said this month that international travel to the city is expected to rise 4.5 percent next year, helped in part by the World Cup.

Meanwhile, international travel to the US started to recover in March 2026, although the rebound remained uneven across source markets.

Photo by Fauzan Saari on Unsplash