Major sporting events have always driven travel demand – but increasingly, they’re also reshaping where travellers choose to go.
Long before the first match kicks off at this week’s major international football tournament in North America, fans were already planning extended, multi-destination trips around the event. And according to new Expedia Group and PredictHQ data, the impact is expected to be enormous, with more than US$8.1 billion in traveller spend forecast across host cities between June and August 2026 alone.
But it’s not just traditional tourism hotspots benefiting.
In fact, some of the biggest spikes in travel intent are emerging in destinations many travellers may not have previously considered. Santa Clara has recorded an astonishing 8,940 per cent increase in Australian travel intent year-on-year, while Monterrey has surged 755 per cent, Guadalajara is up 690 per cent and Kansas City has climbed 182 per cent.
Advertisements
Meanwhile, several North American host cities are experiencing a surge in interest from Australian travellers. Dallas leads the way with searches up 385 per cent year-on-year, followed by Seattle (+305%) and Mexico City (+180%). Interest in Boston has climbed 175 per cent, while Houston is up 140 per cent and Miami has increased 120 per cent. San Francisco and Toronto have also seen strong growth, rising 130 per cent and 100 per cent respectively.1
What’s particularly interesting isn’t simply the scale of demand – it’s how major sporting events are beginning to redistribute tourism beyond the host cities themselves.
While major gateways are seeing strong growth, surrounding regional destinations are often recording even sharper spikes in traveller interest as fans extend trips and build broader itineraries around the event. Around San Francisco, for example, travel intent to Contra Costa County has surged 670 per cent year-on-year, while areas surrounding Seattle and Houston are also seeing significant increases in demand.
And that reflects a much larger shift taking place across global tourism.
Today’s sports travellers are increasingly turning live sporting moments into broader experience-led holidays – combining multiple destinations, local experiences and leisure travel into a single trip. Unlike many major global tournaments hosted within one country, this year’s event spans the United States, Canada and Mexico, creating a unique opportunity for travellers to combine multiple countries into one extended itinerary.
Earlier Expedia Group research found sports travellers globally tend to stay longer, spend more and visit multiple destinations during a trip. In several host markets, international travel intent is also significantly outpacing domestic demand – reinforcing the outsized economic impact major sporting events can have on inbound tourism.
Kansas City, for example, has seen international travel intent surge more than 1,200 per cent year-on-year, compared with 75 per cent domestic growth, with similar trends emerging across other host destinations.
For Australia’s travel industry, the implications extend well beyond one tournament.
Over the next decade, Australia is preparing to host some of the world’s biggest sporting events – including both men’s and women’s rugby, international netball, and ultimately Brisbane 2032.
What we’re seeing now provides a strong indication of how global travellers are likely to shape inbound demand in Australia over the years ahead.
Importantly, the opportunity won’t simply lie in filling hotel rooms near stadiums. As travellers extend trips and explore beyond event hubs, major sporting events are increasingly creating broader regional tourism opportunities as well.
That means understanding demand patterns early has never been more important.
By leveraging real-time traveller insights, accommodation providers can better understand which events are driving interest, where travellers are coming from and how booking behaviour is evolving across different markets. These insights can help partners make smarter decisions around pricing, visibility, and promotional strategies during high-demand periods.
As competition intensifies around major global events, partners that can effectively position themselves in front of high-intent travellers early in the booking journey will be best placed to capture demand. Whether it’s through targeted offers, package promotions, mobile rates or strategic visibility campaigns, the ability to connect with travellers as they plan increasingly complex itineraries is becoming a key competitive advantage.
At Expedia Group, we continue to see how major global events create significant opportunities for partners who are prepared early and understand how modern sports travellers behave.
Because while the event itself may only last a few weeks, the travel behaviours driving it – longer stays, multi-destination itineraries and experience-led travel – are here to stay.
And if current search trends are any indication, travellers are more than ready to be part of it.
Expedia Group
2026-06-12 01:58:00