Hoteliers to unveil 3,300 new CDMX rooms for 2026 World Cup, but many more are needed

More than 3,000 caller edifice rooms volition beryllium developed successful Mexico City up of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the wide manager of the Mexico City Mixed Fund for Tourism Promotion Carlos Martínez Velázquez said connected Tuesday. 

“All luxury edifice brands are looking astatine Mexico City arsenic a tourer concern hub and are gathering 3,300 rooms for the FIFA World Cup successful 2026,” Martínez said, according to the quality tract Forbes México. 

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada welcoming FIFA authoritative Jürgen Mainka successful October. Saying yes to a Mexico City World Cup was the casual part. Accommodating 5.5 cardinal shot fans? Not truthful much. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro)

There are presently 61,500 edifice rooms successful Mexico City, meaning that accommodation offerings volition request to summation importantly for the accomplishment of an anticipated 5.5 cardinal visitors during the Cup, which is scheduled to instrumentality spot successful Mexico, the United States and Canada from June 11–July 19, 2026. 

Martínez said helium is moving with the Territorial Planning Minister of Mexico City, Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez, connected an infrastructure roundtable to accelerate edifice existent property concern successful the city. 

A Mexico City mobility program is besides being developed for the Cup and volition beryllium presented by the city’s mayor, Clara Brugada, according to Martínez.

“Mexico City is acceptable to person tourists since determination are capable edifice rooms and integer platforms acceptable to accommodate each visitors,” helium said.

Insufficient capacity

Contrary to Martinez’s optimism — and contempt the planned edifice expansions — determination are fears of insufficient capableness to accommodate the influx of tourists during the highly fashionable sporting event. The Mexico City authorities is truthful assessing imaginable options connected the city’s outskirts.

Mexico City officials look to beryllium counting connected short-term rentals successful the metropolis to easiness the edifice country shortage for the World Cup, but immoderate person expressed concerns that a precocious passed “Airbnb Law” volition promote galore to instrumentality their properties disconnected the short-term rental market. (Airbnb México)

The authorities is looking astatine neighborhoods specified arsenic Tláhuac, Xochimilco, Magdalena Contreras and Coyoacán — each located wrong the wide country of Estadio Azteca, wherever Cup games volition beryllium played — for accommodation alternatives, according to the Director of Special Projects astatine Mexico City’s Tourism Ministry Hannah de la Madrid. 

“I deliberation what’s going to hap is simply a mosaic of options that we had not adjacent considered… Mexicans are creative, and we person a earthy endowment for uncovering the ‘how to,’” de la Madrid told the paper El Universal. 

Could Airbnb capable the gap? 

Rental sites similar Airbnb are besides expected to supply alternate accommodation for tourists during the World Cup. 

However, successful October 2024, the authorities modified Mexico City’s Tourism Law to found a 180-day-per-year limit connected online abrogation rentals. In the city’s demanding lodging market, Airbnbs had go de facto semipermanent rentals for those who could spend the prices — i.e. the affluent and those with favorable overseas currency exchanges to the peso — and had taken galore would-be rental homes and apartments disconnected the market.

Airbnb has filed an injunction against the changes, to which the authorities has not yet responded.

“Temporary accommodation is simply a earthy complement to these ample events, and without it, it volition beryllium hard to service each these visitors who volition travel to Mexico City,” Airbnb’s Director of Public Affairs Jorge Balderrama told the quality tract El Financiero, adding that Mexico City does not presently person the indispensable edifice infrastructure to accommodate World Cup visitors.

While the authorities indispensable code the influx of visitors, it indispensable besides code rising rental prices, Martínez said.  

“[Airbnb] is wrong their right, and arsenic a metropolis we indispensable support [residents], supra all. All these platforms make an summation successful the usage of municipal services. What we are moving connected is simply a reappraisal of whether the regularisation is optimal for the city. We bash not privation to make ‘tourismophobia,’” Martínez told El Financiero.

With reports from Forbes México, El Universal and El Financiero