While global sports competitions are a darling for destinations, the popularity of marquee events such as the FIFA World Cup inevitably have an impact on business travel, including meetings and conventions costs and availability, according to the latest Business Travel Pulse from Amex GBT.
The report finds that prices for U.S. domestic flights have risen 42% year-over-year, with flights from Europe to World Cup host cities in the U.S. up 13%. The Business Travel Pulse report also revealed that contracted hotel rates in World Cup host cities were 62% higher than the global average of a 1.3% increase year-over-year. Toronto, for example, witnessed a 4.8% increase in hotel rates.
The report found that overall business travel prices jumped 8.3% in the first quarter of 2026 when compared to the 4.7% increase registered in Q4 of 2025. Amex GBT ascribed much of the rise to fuel costs and airspace closures related to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, in conjunction with an increase in global demand for air travel.
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The Flip Side of Amex Business Travel Pulse Report
While the Business Travel Pulse report maintains that demand for accommodations across the U.S. during the World Cup fell below expectations, with more than half of hotel owners in U.S. host cities reporting occupancy rates below initial forecasts and typical June and July bookings, contracted rate increases ranged from 0.3% in Los Angeles to nearly 5% in Toronto.
Further, the report noted that airfares to and from non-host cities climbed only moderately.
Amex GBT said airlines implemented a strategy of increasing seat capacity to select host cities by swapping in larger aircraft for travel in June and July.
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Most data presented in the report was collected in Q1 2026, with other data taken from Amex GBT’s data lake, with additional analysis by Amex GBT Consulting.
To arrive at the macro cost of business travel, Amex GBT said the data was weighted as follows:
- Air, average ticket price: 65% of index score
- Hotel, average booked rate: 25% of index score
- Rail, average ticket price: 5% of index score
- Car rental, average daily rate: 5% of index score
