Mexico City — The 2026 FIFA World Cup failed to deliver the tourism windfall that Mexican officials had predicted, according to the National Business Tourism Council (CNET).
The private-sector organization reported that while the government had anticipated 5.5 million tourists visiting Mexico for the tournament, only 850,000 travelers actually arrived.
“We have to ask the government where they got those numbers — they were far too high,” said Antonio Cosío, president of CNET. “The real figures are much lower than what was announced.”
The lower-than-expected visitor numbers were also reflected in hotel occupancy rates across the three Mexican host cities. Guadalajara saw a 7-percentage-point drop in June compared to June 2025, falling to 56% occupancy. Monterrey lost 5.8 points, ending at 53.5%, while Mexico City slipped 2 points to 56.5%, according to an analysis by the Center for Advanced Research in Sustainable Tourism at Anáhuac Cancún University.
The data stand in stark contrast to the pre-tournament projections, which had anticipated a much larger economic and tourism impact for the Mexican host cities.
However, Francisco Madrid, director of the same research center, said the World Cup provided a significant boost to Mexico’s international image. “It’s hard to imagine a greater benefit than this — a repositioning of Mexico on the global stage,” he said. “There were serious challenges in some destinations, like Guadalajara, where there was even talk of a possible cancellation, but we showed that Mexico is an attractive and interesting place.”
