Commentary: U.S. World Cup hotel bookings are disappointing, and Trump is a major reason

Tourism to the United States has fallen significantly, with overall arrivals down 5.5% year over year. Visitors from Canada, a major source of foreign tourism, dropped 21%. The decline is the largest among countries, exceeding Germany’s 11.3% decrease. Despite global anticipation for the World Cup beginning June 12 with USA vs. Paraguay at SoFi Stadium, expectations for increased foreign visitors have not materialized. Hotel bookings in all 11 U.S. host cities are below expectations, according to an April survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. More than 65% of Los Angeles hotels reported dashed expectations, raising concerns for the 2028 Olympics.

"By almost any measure, tourism to the United States has cratered. Overall, it was down 5.5% last year from the year before. Visitors from Canada, traditionally the largest pipeline of foreign tourism, plummeted 21%. Even with global anticipation building, the path to the U.S. for many World Cup travelers feels increasingly less like a red-carpet welcome."

"That's the largest drop from any country, according to statistics from the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration cited by the Congressional Research Service. The runner-up is Germany, with a decline of 11.3%. Expectations have faded that this summer's World Cup games, which begin in the U.S. on June 12 with USA vs. Paraguay at SoFi Stadium, would buoy the flow of foreign visitors."

"Hotel bookings show that hasn't happened, as my colleague Caroline Petrow-Cohen reports. According to an April survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Assn., hotel operators in all 11 of the U.S. host cities say that bookings are below their expectations. Those figures bode ill for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, whose organizers are also counting on a robust flow of foreign visitors."

"More than 65% of the Los Angeles hotels responding to the survey reported dashed expectations, the association said. That wasn't the worst result; the percentage was higher in five"

Read at Los Angeles Times