Expedia Group Unlocks Sports Tourism Demand Forecasting Through PredictHQ Partnership
Ahead of this year's Big Soccer Tournament:
- Expedia Group becomes PredictHQ's first deeply integrated online travel agency (OTA) partner, bringing its real-world context directly into Partner Central – the platform lodging partners use to manage rates, inventory and performance
- New joint forecasts project total traveler spend across North America's host cities to exceed $8.1 billion USD between June and August 2026 - nearly $750 million higher than last year
- Accommodation spend is projected to climb 86%, with international arrivals fueling four-digit demand surges in key host cities
Expedia Group today announced a new partnership with PredictHQ, the leading provider of real-world context, integrating its verified event signals and predictive demand intelligence directly into Partner Central,1 the platform lodging partners use to manage their business. The integration gives lodging partners a clearer view of rising travel demand by combining PredictHQ's forward-looking demand forecasts with Expedia Group's rich traveler insights, empowering them to identify, anticipate, and act on demand shifts with greater confidence.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260302448200/en/
New joint forecasts project total traveler spend across North America's host cities to exceed $8.1 billion USD between June and August 2026 - nearly $750 million higher than last year
New PredictHQ forecasts show traveler spending across accommodation, ground transportation, and food and beverage in North America's host cities is projected to exceed $8.1 billion USD between June and August 2026 – an increase of nearly $750 million over the same period last year.2
Top cities expected to see major economic growth
Several host cities are set to experience dramatic jumps in fan-driven economic activity. Arlington, Texas, is predicted to see the largest total spend increase, with total traveler spend expected to exceed $562 million – a 135% year-over-year increase. Foxborough, Massachusetts (+161%), Kansas City, Missouri (+73.4%), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (+19.9%), and Houston, Texas (+18.3%) are also projected to experience substantial boosts to their local economies.3
Global fan demand surges toward host cities
New international demand insights reveal dramatic match-week surges, with global fans driving steep percentage increases across several host cities.
Expedia Group data shows Japan and the UK leading inbound demand into Dallas, up 1,820% and 1,530% above typical weeks, respectively. Brazil-to-Philadelphia and Germany-to-Houston routes are also recording four-digit growth as supporters travel across borders to follow their teams. Meanwhile, demand from Australia to Seattle is rising 400%.4
Taken together, these trends signal how global fan movement is accelerating – a clear reflection of fast-rising flow corridors, grounded in bookings already made across key international routes.
Accommodation spending expected to nearly double
Across host cities, projected accommodation spending from June to August 2026 is projected to surge from $2.6 billion to $4.8 billion year-over-year - driven by fans booking rooms that extend well beyond match days.5
The cities seeing the biggest percentage jumps in accommodation spending include:
- Arlington, Texas – projected 369% increase YoY
- Foxborough, Massachusetts – projected 310% increase YoY
- Santa Clara, California – projected 159% increase YoY
Turning insight into impact for lodging partners
Campbell Brown, CEO of PredictHQ, said: "Major global events or groupings of harder-to-track, smaller events both create highly concentrated and fast-moving demand patterns that traditional forecasting models and AI systems lack the real-world context to detect. Demand does not move in straight lines; it responds to what is happening in the world every day. By partnering with Expedia Group, we are embedding this trusted, explainable context directly into decision-making, enabling travel providers to anticipate demand shifts earlier and capture revenue that would otherwise be missed."
Susan Spinney, Senior Vice President, Hotel Market Partnerships at Expedia Group, said: "What makes this powerful is how we connect predictive intelligence directly to commercial action. We're not just identifying demand - we're enabling partners to respond immediately in Partner Central, whether that's adjusting strategy, increasing visibility through TravelAds, or targeting the right domestic and international travelers at the right time. It's about turning foresight into measurable growth."
Read Expedia Group's guide on how hotels can win big with sports tourism here.
Methodology
The research was conducted by PredictHQ, in collaboration with Expedia Group. The data, collected in February 2026, projects the total spend across accommodation, food and beverages, and ground transportation in North American host cities at this year's global soccer tournament.
About Expedia Group
Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) is the global travel marketplace with one purpose: to help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. Expedia Group™ connects travelers, partners, and advertisers through its trusted brands, leading technology, and rich first-party data, delivering predictive, personalized experiences that shape the future of travel.
Expedia Group's ecosystem includes three flagship consumer brands – Expedia®, Hotels.com®, and Vrbo® – the largest B2B travel business, and a premier advertising network. Guided by an experienced and passionate global team, Expedia Group helps millions of travelers in more than 70 countries explore the world with confidence and ease.
© 2026 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Expedia Group and the Expedia Group logo are trademarks of Expedia, Inc. CST: 2029030-50.
About PredictHQ
PredictHQ powers models for some of the world's largest brands with trusted, explainable real-world context, quantifying and predicting how events shape demand with precision. PredictHQ empowers global organizations to harness the power of AI to overcome demand volatility due to the unpredictability of external events, enabling greater confidence and better-informed decisions to meet customers' ever-changing needs. Our real-world context platform aggregates data from hundreds of sources and verifies, enriches and ranks them by predicted impact so companies know how an external event will impact their business, giving them the foresight to seize those opportunities and gain a competitive advantage.
1 PredictHQ's predicted event attendance data is available for free to lodging partners on Expedia Group Partner Central via the Rev+ tool.
2 PredictHQ predicted spend data, February 2026
3 PredictHQ predicted spend data, February 2026
4 Expedia Group demand data in 2025 for stays during this year Big Soccer Tournament match weeks, compared to average stays in 2026.
5 PredictHQ predicted spend data, February 2026
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260302448200/en/
Media contact:
[email protected]