Will Houston see an economic boom from the 2026 World Cup?

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- We are officially 11 days away from the World Cup coming to Houston.

But the question remains: will it bring the economic boom that may have been promised?

It's too early to get a clear picture of what will happen, but projections indicate the President of Houston's World Cup Host Committee expects 500,000 visitors and an economic impact of $1.5 billion.

Elected officials, including the mayor, have repeated those numbers.

The World Cup is in Houston from June 14 to July 4.

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According to Houston First Corporation, which uses both taxpayer funds and private donations to market our city, hotel bookings city-wide are up 4.6% in June and 6.2% in July compared to this same period last year.

Downtown Houston is seeing the biggest boost, with a 54% increase in July bookings, but the area around NRG, where these matches are actually happening, is seeing fewer bookings than usual.

Bookings there are down 34% in June. Short-term rentals are up 16% from this time last year.

Houston First reports travel through Bush and Hobby is up 17.3% from last year in June, but just 2.1% in July.

Houston First also tracks visitors. Internationally, the United Kingdom takes the top spot, then Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the Netherlands.

Out of these five countries, only the Netherlands is actually competing in Houston.

There are still two matches where we don't know who will be competing because they haven't qualified yet.

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