The World Cup is planting seeds that we can all reap later

We have been selling tailor-made holidays to America for more than four decades, and over that time I have learnt that the headlines rarely tell the whole story. This year is a case in point. 

You will have read plenty about a so-called bookings ‘Trump slump’, about hotels in World Cup host cities with unrealistic room rates and of Esta entry problems cooling international demand. While there is some truth in those issues, what we are seeing with our own bookings is more encouraging than the doom-mongers suggest, and for agents willing to look past the noise the opportunity is considerable.

The World Cup has not driven any noticeable rise in bookings by UK travellers heading over to watch the football. Eye‑watering ticket prices have put paid to that. But the tournament’s value to us is not really about this summer. The sheer volume of media exposure, with America on every screen for five weeks, will do what advertising cannot. I expect that to translate into enquiries in the back half of this year and, crucially, into 2027. The seeds are planted now and the holiday gets sold later, and agents should use a good CRM system to nurture those enquiries over many months.

Delayed demand

The booking pattern has been genuinely unusual. Holidays to the US usually carry an average lead time of at least nine months. Bookings slowed for the first eight weeks of the recent Middle East conflict, when customers waited to see how things would turn out. The crucial point is that they were still keen to travel and only postponed making a decision. More than 30% of our bookings made in the last four weeks are departing within the next six months, which is very unusual but extremely encouraging. The demand did not disappear, it simply paused, then arrived later and closer in.

The great thing about 2026 is that it has handed us a once-in-a-generation set of hooks. It is Route 66’s centenary, it is America’s 250th anniversary and the road trip is firmly back in fashion. We have also seen a significant increase in demand for Florida villa holidays to accommodate multigenerational and larger family bookings, and a clear jump where families combine a week on land with a cruise. Overall, the fly-drive remains our most popular product and we are seeing itineraries that are longer, with customers getting away from the cities and exploring the landscapes and culture that help promote the US as a repeat holiday experience – because there’s always more to see. 

New York City, Orlando and Las Vegas are still firm favourites, but single-centre holidays are far harder to differentiate using your experience and planning knowledge, and they are too often up against the OTAs on price alone, a battle few agents will win. The smarter agent will promote multi-stop itineraries that showcase the sheer variety of what the US has to offer.

Repeat business

Do not sell the US as a cheap holiday, because it is not, and putting customers into low-end accommodation will not help repeat business or reviews. Encouraging customers to spend a little more delivers a far better experience, and that is what brings them back to you next time.

Agents that promote multi-centre itineraries should be sure to use the experience of a destination specialist, as they know what works and what doesn’t. When agents choose to create their own dynamic packages – navigating Atol, their responsibilities as the default tour operator, plus the CMA’s new inclusive pricing rules – things can often unravel. A good tour operator can help the agent sound good when explaining the itinerary to the customer.

While the overall US booking pie may be shrinking this year, it is still a huge market for UK customers and well worth agents promoting and securing their slice of it.