‘Better than expected’: KC hotels thrive during World Cup despite early concerns
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Crowne Plaza rebounded from FIFA cancellations by capturing last-minute bookings.
- Kansas City hotels near fan sites sold out or nearly sold out around match days.
- FIFA canceled 75% of the rooms it had reserved, causing reservation shortfalls.
Despite losing a significant amount of expected business when FIFA canceled thousands of hotel rooms in the lead-up to the World Cup, the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Kansas City rebounded into a successful summer.
Walker Swan, general manager for Crowne Plaza, said his hotel was able to adapt once the month-long international tournament kicked off and brought thousands of soccer fans to the city.
That’s a change in fortunes after FIFA dropped a majority of its 5,000 rooms for multiple nights in the city, leaving hotel managers scrambling to find ways to fill rooms they thought were already booked.
Swan said his hotel was hit hard by the cancellations. But it bounced back by capturing last-minute bookings for nights around the six World Cup matches in Kansas City, he said.
“Our hotel performed better than expected after it became clear that our FIFA group blocks would materialize at a much lower level than originally forecasted,” Walker said. “We successfully offset much of that shortfall through strong transient demand, with the hotel selling out on each game night, as well as several nights leading up to the matches.”
Swan’s experience appears to highlight how many hotels fared during the World Cup, bucking early concerns that the tournament would not live up to the lofty tourism expectations.
Andrea O’Hara, executive director for the Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Kansas City, said that hotels located in the city near major tourism draws —the FIFA Fan Festival, Power and Light and Arrowhead Stadium — sold out or came close to selling out all of their rooms two nights before to two nights after match days.
But not all hotels saw the boon in bookings. O’Hara said hotels further away from the festivities saw lower-than-expected reservations.
“We still have some suburban hotels, or properties that weren’t in the major attraction areas, that didn’t receive the business they hoped for,” O’Hara said. “But generally speaking, our hotels did well.”
That seems to align with what appeared to be a mixed bag of success for the city’s businesses during the event. While some business owners said they saw fewer customers than usual, others said they were extremely busy.
Adapting to booking trends
Hotel bookings in the lead-up to the tournament suggested Kansas City hotels were in for a disappointing summer. Bookings were lower than expected about a month before the tournament kicked off.
In a survey released in May, Kansas City-area hotel managers reported to the national American Hotel and Lodging Association that they were realizing fewer bookings during the World Cup than in a typical summer. The survey suggested Kansas City’s hotels were faring the worst among all of the World Cup host cities.
Part of the problem came from FIFA canceling 75% of the rooms it had reserved for the tournament, sending hotels scrambling to fill them. Swan said in June that FIFA’s cancellations were a major driver for why the local hotel industry was facing a room reservation shortfall during the biggest sporting event in the world.
But now that the tournament has come and gone, Swan said the tournament was a success for his hotel.
To make up for the lost reservations from FIFA, Swan said his hotel adapted to booking trends — including late rushes of fans before match days. While his hotel originally expected longer stays, most guests stayed for just a few nights.
“Despite that shift, occupancy remained exceptionally strong throughout the tournament,” Swan said. “We were honored to welcome visitors from around the world and hope everyone who had the opportunity to experience our beautiful city enjoyed their stay.”
