Walking the streets of Kansas City, Houston, Miami and New York it is hard not to notice a World Cup is coming.
Billboards abound, there are signs outside bars and stores are churning out tournament-themed merchandise.
But for hoteliers checking their booking systems, the buzz is more of a murmur.
The industry body says most hotels in World Cup host cities are seeing bookings lower than this time last year, and those who spoke to the BBC said they were underwhelmed so far.
“We were sold this expectation the World Cup would be a big phenomenon, people have been talking about it for years,” said Deidre Mathis, who owns the Wanderstay Boutique Hotel in Houston, Texas.
“So when we looked at our calendar and saw in February, March and April that we still weren’t sold out [for the tournament] – and it is not just us in Houston, but it’s all over – we were left sitting here just very confused,” she told the BBC.
The Wanderstay is a mile on foot from the Houston fan zone and a short drive from the stadium hosting Houston’s matches. It is currently at 45% capacity for the period of the tournament, Mathis told the BBC, compared with 70% for the same time last year.
Mathis blamed the “political climate” during US President Donald Trump’s second term in office, in particular immigration raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in cities across the country.
She also pointed to the rising cost of living in the wake of the US-Israel war in Iran, as well as the “phenomenally” expensive tickets to World Cup matches.
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