urbanSTL

jshank83 wrote: ↑

9:33 PM - Apr 26

Bosnia playing a friendly here before the World Cup. I can’t read the details. So if anyone wants to fill them in feel free.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/profess ... user-share

100,000 local, domestic, and international travelers? More?
Downtown hotels sold out for one night or two? 
June fill rates on Lufthansa, British Airways, and Air Canada (Toronto/Montreal) are going to be strong. 

Regional marketing perspective, this needs to be St. Louis's love letter to Bosnia. 

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Posted by VisitKC via Instagram. Curious to see overall turnout after the WC is over. 

matguy70 wrote: ↑

2:28 AM - Apr 30

Yet, this weeks headlines/news is not great on hotel bookings or international travelers:

KC2026 says some delays with World Cup bookings after numbers lower than expected
FOX4 WDAF Kansas City
APRIL 27, 2026
https://fox4kc.com/sports/2026-world-cu ... -expected/

Kansas City hotels, airport still waiting for World Cup booking rush
KCTV 5 Kansas City
APRIL 28, 2026
https://www.kctv5.com/2026/04/28/kansas ... king-rush/

The myth of the 2026 World Cup hotel and tourism ‘boom’
APRIL 22, 2026
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/721765 ... rices-usa/

An unintended consequence of US immigration policy: Some fans are skipping the World Cup in the US
APRIL 22, 2026
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/21/travel/w ... ted-states

Thanks for sharing and curating!

This seems to be a common thing with any big national/international event in a region. The local tourism bureau puts out obnoxiously hyperbolic numbers around the number of visitors expected and economic impact. And, it doesn't really materialize in the numbers promised.

Local restaurants prepare for a huge rush and....mostly disappointment. Same with hotels, AirBNBs, etc.

Airbnb Hosts Prepped Their Homes for a World Cup Windfall. They’re Still Waiting.
Some spent years and thousands of dollars preparing their houses for tournament
https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitalit ... eatst_pos3

‘Just a ghost town’: Downtown Pittsburgh restaurants disappointed by business during NFL Draft
https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/just-gh ... GBVHLLWA4/

I've come to believe that hosting something like the World Cup, NFL Draft or even having a pro sports team period doesn't really provide a whole lot of *direct* and *immediate* economic value.  It's just good for a region's brand and the egos of that regions' residents.  Those things absolutely have value but aren't so easily explained by dollars and cents.

Now, do I wish that STL was hosting WC games, the NFL draft, etc?  100%.  It's fun!  I'm just not going to claim that millions of tourist will come and spend gobs of money.

(side bar that's related - when the Pope came here in 1999? Countless stories of expected overflowing crowds. I worked downtown at the time and they closed the office that day because of the masses of people that were anticipated. There were no crowds. literally none. lol)

I like in the KC article how the hotelier interviewed said that hotel traffic has been disappointing and then the cost of a minimum stay over the July 4th weekend is $21k for a 3 star hotel and yet most of their room types are sold out.

soulardx wrote:

matguy70 wrote: ↑

2:28 AM - Apr 30

Yet, this weeks headlines/news is not great on hotel bookings or international travelers:

KC2026 says some delays with World Cup bookings after numbers lower than expected
FOX4 WDAF Kansas City
APRIL 27, 2026
https://fox4kc.com/sports/2026-world-cu ... -expected/

Kansas City hotels, airport still waiting for World Cup booking rush
KCTV 5 Kansas City
APRIL 28, 2026
https://www.kctv5.com/2026/04/28/kansas ... king-rush/

The myth of the 2026 World Cup hotel and tourism ‘boom’
APRIL 22, 2026
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/721765 ... rices-usa/

An unintended consequence of US immigration policy: Some fans are skipping the World Cup in the US
APRIL 22, 2026
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/21/travel/w ... ted-states

Thanks for sharing and curating!

This seems to be a common thing with any big national/international event in a region. The local tourism bureau puts out obnoxiously hyperbolic numbers around the number of visitors expected and economic impact. And, it doesn't really materialize in the numbers promised.

Local restaurants prepare for a huge rush and....mostly disappointment. Same with hotels, AirBNBs, etc.

Airbnb Hosts Prepped Their Homes for a World Cup Windfall. They’re Still Waiting.
Some spent years and thousands of dollars preparing their houses for tournament
https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitalit ... eatst_pos3

‘Just a ghost town’: Downtown Pittsburgh restaurants disappointed by business during NFL Draft
https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/just-gh ... GBVHLLWA4/

I've come to believe that hosting something like the World Cup, NFL Draft or even having a pro sports team period doesn't really provide a whole lot of *direct* and *immediate* economic value.  It's just good for a region's brand and the egos of that regions' residents.  Those things absolutely have value but aren't so easily explained by dollars and cents.

Now, do I wish that STL was hosting WC games, the NFL draft, etc?  100%.  It's fun!  I'm just not going to claim that millions of tourist will come and spend gobs of money.

(side bar that's related - when the Pope came here in 1999? Countless stories of expected overflowing crowds. I worked downtown at the time and they closed the office that day because of the masses of people that were anticipated. There were no crowds. literally none. lol)

There was literally 100,000 people in attendance at the Dome. There absolutely were crowds lmao.

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Will 650,000 World Cup fans really visit Kansas City? Tourism numbers don't look so rosy.

"The men's World Cup soccer tournament is coming to Kansas City, the smallest of 16 host cities across North America.  But now hotel industry leaders worry that the World Cup's promised "hotel boom" is failing to materialize, while advocacy groups issued a travel advisory warning international visitors of likely civil rights violations by the Trump administration. But so far, Kansas City officials are sticking by their ambitious estimates."

APRIL 30, 2026
KCUR Kansas City
https://www.kcur.org/sports/2026-04-30/ ... ls-flights

I pulled flight data from June 1st to July 17th for MCI. I included 21 origin points including international gateways and hubs for American, United, Alaskan, Frontier, Air Canada, and Delta. The only flights I could not access were Southwest.

Less than 1% increase in seats from base (1st week of June). A few frequency increases but primarily aircraft upgrades for day before matches. Even if you consider an annual increase (maybe 4%) that exists, this isn’t 650,000 visitors.

My personal opinion, living in KC, is that I’m hoping this is more of a local event. KC isn’t quite ready for the international stage at this level. Sure, a few international visitors will come but not hundreds of thousands. Plus I have security concerns about such a large event. Better to keep it a local party than an international gathering here. That doesn’t stop the price gouging from hotels and airbnbs, but still. There are enough rowdy soccer fans that live in this region already.

StlAlex wrote: ↑

4:10 AM - May 01

soulardx wrote:

matguy70 wrote: ↑

2:28 AM - Apr 30

Yet, this weeks headlines/news is not great on hotel bookings or international travelers:

KC2026 says some delays with World Cup bookings after numbers lower than expected
FOX4 WDAF Kansas City
APRIL 27, 2026
https://fox4kc.com/sports/2026-world-cu ... -expected/

Kansas City hotels, airport still waiting for World Cup booking rush
KCTV 5 Kansas City
APRIL 28, 2026
https://www.kctv5.com/2026/04/28/kansas ... king-rush/

The myth of the 2026 World Cup hotel and tourism ‘boom’
APRIL 22, 2026
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/721765 ... rices-usa/

An unintended consequence of US immigration policy: Some fans are skipping the World Cup in the US
APRIL 22, 2026
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/21/travel/w ... ted-states

Thanks for sharing and curating!

This seems to be a common thing with any big national/international event in a region. The local tourism bureau puts out obnoxiously hyperbolic numbers around the number of visitors expected and economic impact. And, it doesn't really materialize in the numbers promised.

Local restaurants prepare for a huge rush and....mostly disappointment. Same with hotels, AirBNBs, etc.

Airbnb Hosts Prepped Their Homes for a World Cup Windfall. They’re Still Waiting.
Some spent years and thousands of dollars preparing their houses for tournament
https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitalit ... eatst_pos3

‘Just a ghost town’: Downtown Pittsburgh restaurants disappointed by business during NFL Draft
https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/just-gh ... GBVHLLWA4/

I've come to believe that hosting something like the World Cup, NFL Draft or even having a pro sports team period doesn't really provide a whole lot of *direct* and *immediate* economic value.  It's just good for a region's brand and the egos of that regions' residents.  Those things absolutely have value but aren't so easily explained by dollars and cents.

Now, do I wish that STL was hosting WC games, the NFL draft, etc?  100%.  It's fun!  I'm just not going to claim that millions of tourist will come and spend gobs of money.

(side bar that's related - when the Pope came here in 1999? Countless stories of expected overflowing crowds. I worked downtown at the time and they closed the office that day because of the masses of people that were anticipated. There were no crowds. literally none. lol)

There was literally 100,000 people in attendance at the Dome. There absolutely were crowds lmao.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

inside for mass, absolutely!  but, no spillover crowds outside. no masses on streets. no logjam traffic.  

woof

https://www.ahla.com/news/new-report-wa ... pectations

Kansas City - Roughly 85-90% of respondents report booking pace below expectations, trailing a typical June or July without any major events.



If I’m reading that right, FIFA dropped 70-95% of their room blocks in KC. KC is going to be the spot for last minute, cost conscious, domestic buys.

Swift day 1 of ticket sales for Bosnia vs Panama.  The Bosnian supporters group will also be based at Sports and Social at BPV all day before marching to the stadium.  The group has members in over 35 states that are coming, they are in sections 118,119 and 120, about 1600 seats and all but 4 are sold (some resales of people trying to make a buck)

addxb2 wrote: ↑

1:05 AM - 3 days ago

woof

https://www.ahla.com/news/new-report-wa ... pectations

Kansas City - Roughly 85-90% of respondents report booking pace below expectations, trailing a typical June or July without any major events.



If I’m reading that right, FIFA dropped 70-95% of their room blocks in KC. KC is going to be the spot for last minute, cost conscious,  domestic buys.

We got rooms in Overland Park Marriott on a game night near my friends house for about 10% over what I would normally pay per night in other places 

addxb2 wrote: ↑

1:05 AM - 3 days ago

woof

https://www.ahla.com/news/new-report-wa ... pectations

Kansas City - Roughly 85-90% of respondents report booking pace below expectations, trailing a typical June or July without any major events.



If I’m reading that right, FIFA dropped 70-95% of their room blocks in KC. KC is going to be the spot for last minute, cost conscious,  domestic buys.

This type of reporting does damage to KC even if the event itself is eventually a success. Event and tourism professionals are reading this and other proprietary market analysis. They already have enough data to cause concern in future planning. Hosting is great but you don't want to come out the other side being the weakest of 16. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... whead.html

BJ jumping in on the fun. This was always going to happen though, KC is obviously the one city that obviously should not have been hosting.

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I don' t think that assessment is completely fair. Most cities are below expectations. Even the two largest cities in the country are 60+% below expectations. So if those kind of percentages are being seen for larger and more prominent cities, it makes since that KC is seing the numbers that they're seeing. If you think these numbers show that KC shouldn't have been selected, then most of the cities shouldn't have been chosen, because they are all seeing weak numbers. 

Edit: This is the largest sporting event in the world, so these cities, especially the major ones,  should not be even 40% below expectation for bookings. 

Dev7 wrote:I don' t think that assessment is completely fair. Most cities are below expectations. Even the two largest cities in the country are 60+% below expectations. So if those kind of percentages are being seen for larger and more prominent cities, it makes since that KC is seing the numbers that they're seeing. If you think these numbers show that KC shouldn't have been selected, then most of the cities shouldn't have been chosen, because they are all seeing weak numbers. 

Edit: This is the largest sporting event in the world, so these cities, especially the major ones,  should not be even 40% below expectation for bookings. 

There's lots of obvious reasons KC shouldn't have been selected lol.

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KC got the World Cup because corrupt MAGA Hunt family and a TV show (Ted Lasso) convinced enough people that soccer was somehow culturally significant to the region. Although one looks at attendance numbers at MLS/NWSL in KC and wonders how that could be true. Cincinnati, Nashville, Indianapolis, Detroit, Minneapolis, even Pittsburgh would've been better hosts. 

addxb2 wrote: ↑

4:20 PM - 1 day ago

KC got the World Cup because corrupt MAGA Hunt family and a TV show (Ted Lasso) convinced enough people that soccer was somehow culturally significant to the region. Although one looks at attendance numbers at MLS/NWSL in KC and wonders how that could be true. Cincinnati, Nashville, Indianapolis, Detroit, Minneapolis, even Pittsburgh would've been better hosts. 

KC got the World Cup because of Arrowhead.