Demand for travel to the FIFA World Cup has increased following a fall in prices, according to Travelpack.
Director Vishal Patel said bookings for the tournament, being jointly hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July, have ‘edged up slightly’ in recent weeks.
He said this followed a ‘slight’ reduction in airfares, though match ticket prices, set by tournament organisers FIFA, have held.
A report by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) found that bookings are well below expectations in almost every host city, and it accused FIFA of artificially inflating prices by block-booking large volumes of hotel rooms, which it later released.
Up to 70% of rooms reserved by FIFA in Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle have been cancelled, said the AHLA
However, Vishal suggested this had not led to prices being slashed. “There is more inventory across the USA, however it’s not as extreme as consumer media suggests, this has been somewhat exaggerated,” he said.
The BBC said that hotel prices in cities like Boston are still $300 (£224) a night during the tournament, even though more than half the hotels in 10 out of the 11 US host cities, including Boston, told the AHLA that World Cup bookings are underperforming.
