Current Issues in Tourism

Tourism and the 2026 FIFA World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, is scheduled to be held in June and July 2026 in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Jointly hosted by sixteen North American cities, eleven in the United States (Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle), three in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey), and two in Canada (Toronto, and Vancouver). The tournament will be the first to be hosted by three nations. However, Mexico has previously hosted the tournament twice and the United States once.

This is the first World Cup to include 48 teams further expanding the extraordinarily high profile of what is usually regarded as the world’s biggest sporting event. This special issue calls for papers (including research notes and letters) on the economic, environmental, social, and political dimensions of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in a tourism and related context. This includes papers not only regarding the host countries and cities but also how this World Cup is understood in tourism, hospitality, and event terms in other countries around the world, i.e., how does this World Cup affect perceptions of the host countries and cities as destinations? The extended time line of the call for papers also offers the possibility for longitudinal and pre/post research on the event.

Papers are therefore called for with respect to a wide range of tourism, hospitality and event management topics that relate to the hosting of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. These include, but are not limited to:

• The economic impacts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the host countries, cities, and regions
• The social impacts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the host countries, cities, and regions
• The environmental impacts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the host countries, cities, and regions
• Event planning and management and the 2026 FIFA World Cup
• Tourism marketing and promotion of the 2026 FIFA World Cup
• Governance and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including sponsorship arrangements, legal and regulatory issues, and entry requirements
• The 2026 FIFA World Cup and the image of host countries and cities
• The 2026 FIFA World Cup and tourist flows
• The tourism impacts of 2026 FIFA World Cup fan zones around the world
• The effects of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the hospitality sector
• The legacies of the previous FIFA World Cup’s held in Mexico and the United States