DevelopFulton is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's World Cup Channel.
One of Atlanta’s biggest exports is travel, and clarity around the teams coming to play in the FIFA World Cup next summer has already begun juicing international inquiries about the city.
The influx of both foreign and domestic travelers is set to drive an immediate economic impact in the city through spending on flights and lodging, not to mention the spillover and branding effects that eight matches of the world’s largest sporting event will bring.
For most scheduled game days, AirBnB bookings in Atlanta have reached three times last year’s levels, and 13 percent of overall room/rental capacity on days like Spain versus Saudi Arabia has already been booked up, according to AirDNA, a short-term rental research company that has launched a World Cup dashboard tracking activity in host cities.
Even Atlanta’s semifinal match weekend has seen bookings triple versus last year, despite the fact that the country matchup won’t be set until deep into the tournament.
AirBnB itself last week put out an analysis predicting that its guests alone would bring $23 million in spending on accommodations ($6 million directly to hosts), restaurants, groceries and other categories, with an estimated $70 million including “induced effects” from spending by local workers whose wages rise because of the increasing in local activity.
The numbers, accumulated by Deloitte, assume that only a small proportion of the 216,000 visitors the firm expects to descend on Atlanta for the matches will stay at an AirBnb, with an average expenditure of $134 per night on short-term rentals (including single rooms).
Beyond bookings, searches on Kayak.com for Atlanta flights increased by 140 percent in the days after the match schedule and teams were announced last weekend. Boasting the world’s busiest airport, accustomed to nearly 300,000 passengers a day, the city should have no problem handling the anticipated increase in traffic.
As much as the activity should be a boon for the city, leaders should ensure the benefit is equitably spread, according to the leaders of Play Fair ATL, a coalition of groups looking to ensure that the long-term legacy of the tournament is better labor standards, higher wages, protection of legacy homeowners and tenants, and improved transit. See the full platform here
The initiative is critical of the city’s “Downtown Rising” plan, which it argues could lead to criminalizing unhoused people being cleared out of the city’s core. The group’s platform also calls on the city to gain guarantees from federal authorities that matches will be safe spaces for immigrants amid fears of ICE raids on sporting events as the Trump administration ramps up enforcement actions.
Business boosters, meanwhile, say the city has a long tradition, from the Olympic Games to today, showcasing the city’s famed Southern hospitality to guests from all over the world. As Metro Atlanta Chamber President and CEO Katie Kirkpatrick told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “We’ll roll out the red carpet for anybody.”
The Atlanta Beltline is focusing its quarterly briefing this month on its “Play for the World Cup,” a plan to use the platform of the tournament to grow the city’s cultural and creative sector. Panelists for the event include music artist and producer Dallas Austin, Soccer in the Streets Executive Director Kaseem Ladipo, and Lamar Stewart of Showcase Atlanta, Mr. Dickens’s initiative to ensure major sporting events’ impact on Atlanta is broad-based and lasting. Attend the event virtually here or in-person at the Monday Night Brewing Garage at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 11.