The majority of the 48 national soccer sides competing in this summer 2026’s U.S.-Canada-Mexico FIFA World Cup have booked their transport and hotels, and the legions of European fans set to come to the Americas is putting hoteliers there into a frenzy.
A 50% increase in the number of teams competing has added to the upcoming competition on the pitches and in hotel markets.
The draw for the group stages was held on Dec. 5, and hoteliers now know which teams are coming to their cities for the first part of the tournament.
At a webinar titled “The World Cup effect: US host city hotels and overseas visits forecast to surge” hosted by Tourism Economics, Laura Baxter, a Canada-based economist at Tourism Economics, said the 78 out of the 104 games to be played in the U.S. will result in a predicted $900 million in hotel revenue.
“That is comparable to that of roughly 10 Super Bowls within six weeks,” she said, referencing the dates of the games between June 11 and July 19.
One all-European game in the group stages putting fans in a frenzy is France versus Norway on June 26 in Boston. The match will see France’s superstar Kylian Mbappé — who plays club soccer for Real Madrid — face Norway’s superstar Erling Haaland of Manchester City.
Aran Ryan, director of industry studies at Tourism Economics, said he expects international visitors to occupy 40% of the seats at games, or 1.24 million people, “of which, 724,000, about 50%, will be incremental visitors.”
“In June, we think there will be a 10% boost to international travel inbound to the U.S., relative to what we’d see without the World Cup,” he said, “and a 2% boost to July inbound. … overall, a 1.1% contribution to growth year over year.”
Evidently, as the rounds of the games end, fewer teams will remain, and fewer fans.
There is an expectation that international visitors will take the opportunity of being in another continent to extend trips to other destinations.
“It is really just rare to see this magnitude of impact to the international inbound figures from an event,” Ryan said,
The 2026 FIFA World Cup should provide a notable demand boost to the U.S. next year, following what has been a challenging year for U.S. hoteliers with negative sentiment hurting inbound travel, which is down 6.3% year over year.
Baxter predicted all the tournament's host cities and hotels will see benefits.
“In the month of June, when the majority of matches take place … the incremental room revenue impact is expected to be in the range of 7% through 25%. On match days and surrounding [days] we expect that uplift to be stronger, but on an annual basis, the uplift translates to between 1% and 5% across host markets,” she said.
Some markets that host World Cup matches will benefit more than others.
“Mexico City; New York City/New Jersey; Kansas City, and Los Angeles have a particularly favorable mix of factors pointing to strong hotel performance,” she added.
Apart from those cities either hosting the home nations or hosting more games than other cities, or both, other factors will see added interest from international visitors, she said.
Smaller host cities will see their hotels post increased revenue per available room, while larger cities that host large events and a high number of leisure visitors every year will see gains in in average daily rate and revenue.
Kansas City, for instance, might not leap out as an international destination, but it has scored highly in predictions due to its “match quantity and stage,” Baxter said.
“It will host six matches, one of which is a quarterfinal,” she said.
World Cup fans from Argentina, Brazil, England, France and Portugal are all expected to have an “above-average impact on hotel performance,” Baxter added.
But there are still concerns about the U.S. visa application process and if fans need to cross borders, and cross back, depending on their teams’ journey through the event, Ryan said.
The nations that have qualified are, in alphabetical order: Algeria; Argentina; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Brazil; Cabo Verde; Canada (co-host); Colombia; Croatia; Curaçao; Ecuador; England; Egypt; France; Germany; Ghana; Haiti; Iran; Ivory Coast; Japan; Jordan; Mexico (co-host); Morocco; The Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Panama; Paraguay; Portugal; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Scotland; Senegal; Spain; South Africa; South Korea; Switzerland; Tunisia; Uruguay; USA (co-host), and Uzbekistan.
Curaçao is the smallest nation by population to have ever reached the FIFA World Cup. According to Worldometer, its population of 185,494 is 0.053% of the U.S. population of nearly 348 million.
Six other nations will qualify via play-in matches that will be held in March.
Watch Out for Your Final Rental Car Bill — There May Be Unfair Charges
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https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/watch-out-for-your-final-rental-car-bill-there-may-be-unfair-charges
Zanny Steffgen
Be diligent with documentation to avoid rental car charges for damage that’s not your fault.
A few years back, I rented a car for a couple of days during a visit to Denver, and the whole trip went smoothly. So imagine my surprise when I walked out to the hotel parking lot on my last morning and saw that the back of one side-view mirror was missing, exposing cracked black plastic underneath. I almost immediately panicked—I hadn’t purchased rental insurance and had no car insurance of my own at the time, so I knew I’d be responsible for the damage.
Because I hadn’t hit anything while driving, I assumed this must have been the result of a parking lot hit-and-run. Thus began a whirlwind morning as I requested security camera footage from the hotel and filed an incident report online, checking my watch every few minutes to be sure I wouldn’t miss my impending flight. When I brought the car back to the rental company on the way to the airport, the drop-off attendant noted the exposed mirror, so I signed a damage report without a thought and jotted down that I was looking for footage from the hotel to find the person responsible.
But as I was boarding the plane, I got a call from the hotel security guard, who told me that the footage clearly showed the damage had been there since I first pulled the car into the lot. When I finally looked at the photos I’d taken of my rental, I realized that I’d been mistaken—the damage had been there all along, I just hadn’t noticed it until my last day.
There was just one problem: when I’d picked up the car, I’d forgotten to take the pre-rental photos in the lot, instead snapping them after 30 minutes of driving when I’d pulled over. This, plus my signature on the damage claim, meant the rental company still sent me a $326 bill for the repairs.
After many weeks of phone calls and emails, in which I explained the situation and insisted that the company check the records of the car’s rentals before mine, they finally dropped the claim and closed the case. I’ve since rented from the same company many times, but with a few key differences in my approach. Here is what I learned.
Avoid Rentals With Pre-existing Damage
Inspect cars closely, and if you see that the vehicle you’ve been assigned is damaged in some way, either ask for a different rental or make sure that the company has a record of that damage so you don’t take the blame. “Always point out any inconsistencies to the rental agent. Make sure that they note them in the rental papers,” says
Alen Baibekov, CEO of car rental booking platform Economy Bookings.
Don’t Skip the Pre-rental Photos or Video
Take a photo (or even better, a video) of the external condition of the car before driving away, and make sure your footage has a time stamp. If you see any interior damage or the gas gauge at less than full, take a photo of that as well. When picking up a car at night, use your flashlight, take flash photos, or drive to the closest well-lit area before snapping pictures.
Take Photos at Drop-off, Too
In case something happens to the car between the drop-off and the return inspection, take photos or a video at the end, too. This is especially important if the drop-off is after hours or unattended. Make sure you have a timestamped photo of the odometer to show the final mileage and that the tank is full. And don’t delete the photos right away—you may not receive word of a claim until a couple of months afterwards, so hang on to the evidence.
Unlike what I did, “Don’t sign papers acknowledging damage charges if you believe they were present before,” says Baibekov. “The process of disputing damage charges is never easy, but by being more cautious, there is less of a chance that the rental agency will try to treat you unjustly.”
Coverage Is Worth It
Anyone who has rented a car before knows that the rental companies can be pushy about upcharges. “The biggest ‘hidden fees’ issue we see is upselling unnecessary insurance by making customers feel that their coverage isn’t enough,” says Baibekov. It’s alright if you don’t have car insurance yourself or opt out of the insurance provided by the rental company, but don’t go completely unprotected. Third-party booking sites like AAA sometimes offer a cheaper insurance package than the rental company, and many credit cards offer secondary coverage, too.
Don’t Be Afraid to Push Back
If you are charged for rental car damage that you don’t believe was your fault, don’t just accept the claim and pay the invoice. Provide all the documentation and photos you have and make the phone calls, even though navigating the phone tree is a pain. In my case, it’s exactly what prevented me from paying $326.
Danny Karon, an attorney who has been involved with several class-action lawsuits against rental car companies, has had personal as well as professional experience with this. Karon was charged a fee for a speeding ticket by a rental car company, but when he researched the ticket himself, he discovered that the radar camera’s footage was of a completely different vehicle than the one he’d driven. So Karon fought not only for the charge to be dropped but also for a fee to cover the time he’d spent looking into the charge. “I didn’t take any crap from them, and you shouldn’t either,” he says. “If you avoid a victim mentality, that will serve you well. Don’t be a crab, don’t fight everybody. Think about when it matters and pick your opportunities.”
If You Were at This Airport Recently, You Could Have Measles
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https://www.fodors.com/news/news/urgent-health-alert-measles-exposure-hits-busy-u-s-airport
New Jersey health officials warn travelers at Newark Liberty Airport may have been exposed to measles on Dec. 12.
The state health department warned that air travelers who flew through the airport’s Terminals B and C between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on December 12, 2025, in addition to workers or anybody else present in the terminal building during that period, should be on alert for the possibility of contact with a person infected with measles.
Further details about the areas occupied by the infected person were unavailable, but the state health department is in the process of actively contact tracing.
Anybody who may have been exposed to measles, either at Newark Airport or another location, are urged by the health department to be aware of the symptoms of the disease and ensure their Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (
MMR) vaccinations are up-to-date. The health department also notes that those in contact with the infected person on December 12 could develop symptoms as late as January 2, 2026.
State health officials note that no new associated cases of measles have been identified in New Jersey since the health department was made aware of the infected traveler. Anybody who suspects they have contracted the measles virus should not go directly to a healthcare provider, but contact them in advance to let them know their symptoms are similar to measles symptoms to receive further instructions.
The health department warns that measles is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, watery red eyes, and a rash that usually appears between three and five days after symptoms begin. The rash usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, torso, arms, legs, and feet. Measles can also cause serious complications, such as pneumonia and encephalitis (swelling of the brain), and can lead to miscarriage in pregnant people, premature birth, or a low-birth-weight baby.
The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that measles weakens the immune system, compromising the body’s ability to fight off other infections, making the virus particularly dangerous for young children (whose immune systems have not fully developed)) and people who are immunocompromised, meaning their immune system function is lower than typical.
The virus spreads through the air when someone coughs or sneezes, and can remain airborne with the potential to infect other people for up to two hours after the infected person leaves the area. Coming into contact with mucus or saliva of an infected person can also transmit the virus. Infected persons can be contagious without demonstrating symptoms of measles.
2025 has seen the most measles infections in the United States since 1992. As of December 23, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports 2,012 confirmed cases of measles in the United States, mostly among the unvaccinated. Measles cases have been reported in 44 states. There have been three confirmed deaths attributed to measles. The state with the largest outbreak is Texas, which accounts for just over 800 of the confirmed measles cases this year.
Before the MMR vaccine entered wide use in 1963, measles infected an estimated 3 to 4 million Americans each year, hospitalizing nearly 50,000 and killing around 500. Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, but declining vaccination rates have increased the number of cases in recent years.
Newark Liberty International Airport consistently ranks in the Top 20 busiest airports in the United States. The airport, which is a major hub for United Airlines, handles between 110,000 and 130,000 passengers per day—more during peak holiday periods.
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