Why did FIFA cancel 40% of its Mexico City hotel bookings for the World Cup?

FIFA, soccer’s planetary governing body, has cancelled 40% of the edifice rooms it booked successful Mexico City for the World Cup, according to Alberto Albarrán Leyva, the manager wide of Mexico City’s Hotel Association. 

In an interrogation with the paper El Financiero, Albarrán Leyva said that successful the past 30 days, 800 of the 2,000 rooms that FIFA booked to beryllium occupied during the World Cup successful Mexico City were released. 

As manager wide of the Mexico City Hotel Association, Alberto Albarrán made nationalist the quality that FIFA had canceled 800 of its 2,000 Mexico City edifice reservations for the World Cup. He received immoderate disapproval from the Culture Ministry, but truthful far, the numbers person not been disproven. (Facebook)

Meanwhile, the paper La Jornada quoted Albarrán arsenic saying that successful the lead-up to the sporting event, “there person been much cancellations than reservations.”

At the aforesaid time, Albarrán cautioned against speechmaking excessively overmuch into the cancellations. “FIFA booked 2,000 rooms months agone to forestall (running short) and warrant its operation,” Albarrán told ESPN. “Over time, it canceled immoderate reservations due to the fact that it realized that it was nary longer going to usage them. There is nary different crushed oregon different benignant of context.” 

FIFA’s wide cancellations of its edifice reservations were made nationalist conscionable 100 days earlier the World Cup. At this point, the Mexico City Hotel Association anticipates nary further cancellations from the organizing committee. 

Albarrán said that the edifice assemblage volition request to redesign its selling and income strategies to accommodate the disposable rooms. The assemblage anticipates that by June 11, the opening day of the World Cup, edifice occupancy volition scope 85% successful the capital.

According to the consulting steadfast Deloitte, Mexico City expects to invited immoderate 836,000 home and planetary tourists during the World Cup. In contrast, the Hotel Association maintains its anticipation of 1.5 to 2 cardinal visitors successful total, with an mean enactment of 1.8 days. 

Albarrán said helium expects tourists to usage Mexico City arsenic a “trampoline” to question to different World Cup big states, specified arsenic Jalisco and Nuevo León, frankincense expanding tourer enactment successful assorted regions of the country.

Mexico City’s Tourism Ministry puts retired a counter-narrative

On Wednesday morning, the capital’s Tourism Ministry issued a statement disputing Albarrán’s declaration of edifice cancellations.  

“These versions bash not bespeak the world of the readying process oregon the behaviour of the planetary tourism market,” the ministry said. 

Citing a study dubbed “Travel Insights: Football’s biggest lawsuit successful 2026” by Amadeus, Sectur said that question searches for the play starring up to the World Cup grew by much than 35% and that big cities are registering dependable increases successful question intent and formation bookings.

“These indicators bespeak a affirmative wide inclination successful tourism request associated with the tournament,” the property league concluded. 

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, Mexico City has much than 63,000 rooms disposable crossed 800 hotels. According to Sectur, it is prepared to warrant “enough capableness to invited travelers during the event.” 

Mexico News Daily