by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 5:40 PM ET, Thu December 18, 2025
The FIFA World Cup frenzy has arrived.
Case in point: On December 5, the FIFA World Cup 2026 match schedule was released and it triggered an immediate surge in booking activity across host cities for both short-term rentals and home exchanges.
In particular, a study conducted by short-term rental analytics company Key Data found that the week of December 1–7 saw host cities collectively post an average 29 percent year-over-year (YOY) increase in net reservations per short-term rental property compared with the same week in 2024.
Additionally, Average Daily Rates (ADR) increased 25 percent across all markets associated with the World Cup, with 13 of the 16 host cities commanding higher rates. The markets experiencing the strongest uptick in short-term rental property bookings following the FIFA schedule release included:
- Kansas City: +82 percent net reservations per property
- Greater Philadelphia: +80 percent
- Greater Boston: +78 percent (Boston also recorded a 102 percent increase in ADRs)
- Guadalajara:(+70 percent)
Not all cities, however, are feeling the FIFA World Cup love. Some FIFA locations
experienced a weaker immediate response following the December 5 game schedule release.
For instance, the San Francisco Bay Area recorded a 31
percent YOY decline in net reservations per property during
that booking week, despite ADRs increasing 27 percent. Meanwhile Monterrey
saw flat reservations alongside a 49 percent percent decline in ADR.
Short-term rental property bookings are just one element of the travel excitement emerging around the World Cup.
Representatives
for HomeExchange (the home swapping platform), told TravelPulse that
its also experienced a serious uptick in requests for World Cup
host cities following the December 5 schedule release. Cities where
the surge was most notable included:
- Atlanta: +185 percent increase
- Boston (specifically Norfolk County): +38.7 percent increase
- Kansas City: +38 percent increase
- New Jersey (specifically Bergen County): +12.5 percent increase
- Philadelphia: +37 percent increase
"In recent years, we have seen a growing enthusiasm among HomeExchange
members for sports-related travel. During the Paris Olympics, more than
7,000 of our members were able to attend the games affordably," said Jessica Poillucci, PR manager for EN Markets at HomeExchange.
Private jet bookings are also intensifying surrounding the World Cup, according
to Michael Loff, vice president of charter sales for Privatejet.com.
“As soon as the team locations were announced, PrivateJet.com saw an immediate spike in online requests,” Loff told TravelPulse.
“Once
Team USA was confirmed on the West Coast, we recorded a 20 percent
increase in cross-country trip inquiries for 2026. Specifically, a spike
in New York to Los Angeles requests and internationally, Spain to
Atlanta," Loff added.
Typically, private charters are booked within about one
week’s notice. But due to the World Cup excitement,
companies like PrivateJet are seeing spike in clients locking in
aircraft six months in advance.
“There's also been a surge in
long-range aircraft bookings from Europe and Africa into the United
States, Canada and Mexico host cities,” added Loff. “If this pattern
holds, the 2028 Olympics might actually feel more manageable than
this.”
Surging demand for stays during World Cup dates
Still more data
related to the upcoming FIFA World Cup extravaganza confirms that
bookings for short-term rental stays across all host cities during the
actual World Cup event dates, June 11 - July 19, have also ticked
up substantially year-over-year (YOY).
Specifically, there’s
been a 298 percent YOY increase on nights sold during the event dates, and a
whopping 533 percent increase in revenue per property.
Paid occupancy is also up by 274 percent YOY.
"The biggest
surprise is the amount of increase - 300 percent and 400 percent increases are not normal
in travel forecasting, even for major global events,” Jay Wardle,
president of Adara, a data company that works with brands and
destinations, told TravelPulse. “This collides with a growing travel
trend overall: experience-based travel.”
Several markets are experiencing particularly strong event-period
demand, among them: Guadalajara, which leads with reservations per
property up 1,989 percent YOY,
followed by Greater Boston (+1,954 percent), Kansas City (+1,271
percent), Greater Philadelphia (+743 percent), and Greater Atlanta (+513
percent).
“International
fans are booking with urgency because 2026 will be the most accessible
World Cup ever for North and South America, so people are being more
aggressive with both booking ahead and how much they are willing to
spend,” said Wardle.
This is the first time the FIFA World Cup is returning to the United States in more than
three decades. The five-week long event will kick off on June 11, 2026,
with 48 nations vying for the game's ultimate title over the following weeks. A
champion will be crowned just outside of New York City on July 19, 2026.
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