Indian-Origin Hoteliers Report Subdued World Cup Interest in US

Indian-origin hoteliers, who own and represent a majority of US properties, told ET that overseas interest for the football World Cup has been relatively subdued compared with previous marquee global events due to harsh immigration policies, steep air fares and expensive match tickets. International bookings have not translated into the kind of pre-event boom hoteliers hoped for, they said.

Rahul Patel, chairman of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), the largest such grouping in the US, told ET that proprietors had expected the World Cup to create a “larger wave” of advance reservations.

AAHOA’s 20,000 members own 60% of the hotels in the US ranging from luxury to economy and say they contribute over $ 370 billion to the national GDP. More than one million employees work at AAHOA member-owned hotels, earning $51.3 billion annually. Member-owned hotels support 4.2 million US jobs across all sectors of the hospitality industry. A considerable chunk of AAOHA’s members are Indian-origin Gujaratis.

While some hotels in major gateway cities are seeing strong demand, many owners say bookings have not materialised at the level they expected, Patel said. Shorter booking windows are making it harder for hotels to forecast demand.

“I would not say demand is absent, but the booking pace has been slower and less predictable than what many hotels expected,” he said. “The challenge is that travellers are booking much later than anticipated. International travellers are paying more attention to visa processing, border policies, and travel costs than they have in the previous World Cup cycles. Those factors can certainly influence travel decisions.”

Chains such as Marriott International have attested to the heft of Indian-origin hoteliers in the US hospitality industry.

To be sure, the average daily rate (ADR) remains elevated across World Cup markets in larger cities such as New York and San Francisco, according to Kalibri, a hospitality analytics firm with access to one of the largest hotel performance datasets in the US.

But occupancy levels have generally been lower than initial projections. “We are hearing from hotel owners that travellers are taking longer to commit,” Patel said. “The interest is there, but many travellers are being more cautious with their spending and planning.”

Airfares to the US have risen substantially from markets such as India due to fuel price hikes owing to the US-Iran war. Airlines such as Air India have also cut weekly flights to North America, its most critical international market, by 39%. The tournament has also been making headlines for ticket prices surging as high as $7598 for the final match, as per reports.

Going into the tournament, the hospitality sector had “massive” expectations, largely driven by FIFA’s early communications and initial room block commitments, said Neal Patel, a second-generation hotelier, and managing partner of Blue Chip Hotels. Patel oversees a diverse portfolio of branded and independent hotels, senior housing and multifamily assets across multiple US states.

The inbound market is more subdued than it has been for previous global events. “This is the result of compounding factors,” he said. “Unprecedented ticket prices are creating severe sticker shock, stringent visa processing and immigration barriers are actively deterring international fans, and the broader macroeconomic environment is making travellers cautious”.

To be sure, the average daily rate (ADR) remains elevated across World Cup markets in larger cities such as New York and San Francisco, according to Kalibri, a hospitality analytics firm, with access to one of the largest hotel performance datasets in the US.

But occupancy levels have generally been lower than initial projections. “We are hearing from hotel owners that travelers are taking longer to commit,” Patel said. “The interest is there, but many travelers are being more cautious with their spending and planning.”

Airfares to the US have risen substantially from markets such as India due to fuel price hikes owing to the US-Iran war. Airlines such as Air India have also cut weekly flights to North America, its most critical international market, by 39%. The tournament has also been making headlines for ticket prices surging as high as $7598 for the final match, as per reports.

Going into the tournament, the hospitality sector had “massive” expectations, largely driven by FIFA’s early communications and initial room block commitments, said Neal Patel, a second-generation hotelier, and managing partner of Blue Chip Hotels. Patel oversees a diverse portfolio of branded and independent hotels, senior housing and multifamily assets across multiple US states.

The inbound market is more subdued than it has been for previous global events.

“This is the result of compounding factors,” he said. “Unprecedented ticket prices are creating severe sticker shock, stringent visa processing and immigration barriers are actively deterring international fans, and the broader macroeconomic environment is making travellers cautious. The demand exists, but it's heavily domestic and highly fragmented, lacking the sustained international boom we prepared for.”

AAHOA secretary Dhiren Masters said hoteliers were expecting more business from World Cup games. Masters owns hotels in Irving and Fort Worth in Texas. “I am not sure how other countries did, but we were expecting more business,” he said. “We are seeing a little uptick now, but not as much as we expected here in the metroplex. There were a lot of cancellations.”

He’s hoping for a pickup as games begin in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

AAHOA member Vimal Patel also said demand is not as much as expected. Queries from India were “quite active” till December but there had been a substantial drop in demand since the end of February, said Govind Gaur, CEO of WanderOn.