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SYDNEY, June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The excitement of the world’s biggest football tournament has officially gripped Australia’s sporting community. With host cities buzzing with record-breaking crowds and intense competition on the pitch, the energy surrounding the tournament is also driving a major surge in international travel.
Recent booking data from October 2025 to May 2026 by Trip.com, a leading global travel service provider, highlights that the total global order volume to host cities during the Group Stage (11 to 27 June) increased by almost 70% year-on-year, heavily outpacing the growth during the Knockout Rounds (4 to 19 July).
The front-loaded momentum among Socceroos fans is even more pronounced. Total order volume from Australia to host cities during the Group Stage has skyrocketed by 98.5% year-on-year, compared with growth of just over 5% during the Knockout Rounds. The data suggests travel demand is being driven primarily by Aussie fans wanting to experience the opening stages of the tournament and support their national teams in person, rather than by traditional mid-year holiday travel patterns.
Fans Planning Ahead for Football Pilgrimage
The sheer scale of these long-haul trips is heavily reflected in booking lead times. For Australian travellers, securing a front-row seat required serious forward planning; those heading to the Group Stage booked flights 124 days in advance on average, while those planning for the Knockout Rounds booked even earlier, averaging a 143-day lead time.
This intense wave of advance planning is creating standout growth stories across host destinations. In Mexico, some host cities have recorded hotel demand increases of more than 4,000% year-on-year during the opening weeks of the tournament before moderating in July.
Los Angeles and Vancouver Lead Aussie Arrivals
To establish their tournament bases, Australian travellers are overwhelmingly choosing major North American gateway cities with strong trans-Pacific flight connectivity and convenient access to multiple host destinations.
Trip.com flight booking data ranks Los Angeles as the most popular arrival city for Australian fans, followed by Vancouver, New York, San Francisco and Toronto. Los Angeles and Vancouver maintain their top positions throughout both the Group Stage and Knockout Rounds, serving as attractive starting points for fans navigating the tournament across the three host countries.
Aussie Travellers Embrace Multi-City Travel
A clear global trend defining this tournament is the rise of “fixture-following” behaviour, with supporters mapping out their journeys around the specific regions where their teams play. Once on the ground, this behaviour translates into a unique appetite for multi-city travel among Australian fans.
During the Group Stage, 14% of Australian users booked multi-city itineraries, one of the highest globally. Unlike many other international markets, where multi-city travel declines during the Knockout Rounds, Australian travellers maintained this behaviour, with the share rising slightly to 14.9%.
Popular combinations include Los Angeles and New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and cross-border itineraries linking Los Angeles and Vancouver. This trend highlights a distinct long-haul travel mindset: Australian fans are not just attending matches—they are turning the tournament into a broader North American travel experience.
About Trip.com
Trip.com is an international one-stop travel service provider, available in 27 languages across 48 countries and regions in 44 local currencies. Offering an extensive hotel and flight network of more than 1.7 million hotels and flights from over 680 airlines, along with over 350,000 in-destination activities, Trip.com covers 3,500 airports in 220 countries and regions. Trip.com‘s world-class 24/7 multilingual customer service helps to ‘create the best travel experience’ for its millions of customers worldwide. To book your next trip, visit Trip.com.