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These U.S. cities are exploding in demand after the World Cup schedule drop

Booking.com data reveals early travel spikes tied to key World Cup matches

By Amanda Teague Published December 18, 2025

Birds at the beach in Venice, Los Angeles, California — Venice Beach, Los Angeles Blake Everett / Wikimedia

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is still months away, but travelers are already moving fast. According to a new study from Booking.com, travel searches for U.S. host cities surged almost immediately after the official tournament schedule was released, with eye-popping increases tied to key match dates.

While some of the year-over-year jumps look almost unreal, Booking.com notes that many are driven by smaller baseline data sets. Still, the trend is clear. Fans are locking in trips early, especially for marquee matches and knockout round games.

World Cup matchups are driving early travel planning

Among U.S. travelers, domestic interest is climbing sharply for cities hosting major USA matches. Los Angeles is leading the charge, with searches jumping 836% year over year for the June 12 USA vs. Paraguay match. Demand spikes even higher for Los Angeles on June 25, when the U.S. plays a to-be-determined opponent, with searches up 934%. Seattle is also seeing a surge, with a 348% increase tied to the June 19 USA vs. Australia match.

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International demand is ramping up just as quickly. Austrian travelers searching for Dallas around the June 22 Argentina vs. Austria match surged more than 384,000%. Houston is seeing a massive jump from Dutch travelers ahead of a Netherlands match on June 20, while Philadelphia and Kansas City are spiking among Croatian and Argentinian fans, respectively.

Even the final rounds are already drawing attention worldwide. Searches for Dallas and Atlanta around the July semifinals are up more than 3,600% and 2,500% globally, while New York is seeing early interest build ahead of the July 19 final.

Contributor

Amanda, an accomplished freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio, is a dedicated explorer of both the world and the written word…

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