You might be surprised to hear it given some of the economic and geopolitical news this year, but the big news from the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Forum was a presentation from Jan Freitag, the national director of hospitality analytics at CoStar Group, and Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, that significantly revised upward their 2026 U.S. hotel forecasts from earlier this year.

For this conversation we’re turning to Freitag and Travel Weekly hospitality editor Christina Jelski to review the new forecast and what’s driving the rosy outlook. We talk about the current shape of the economy, interest in domestic travel, the enduring stability of the upper-end and luxury segment. And as the FIFA World Cup kicks off, we take yet another look at demand around the match cities and how some industry watchers may have been missing the story.

This episode was recorded June 12 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Episode sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Brendan Vacations https://www.brendanvacations/com/traveladvisors

Related links

Early numbers brighten the 2026 forecast for U.S. hotels https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Early-numbers-brighten-2026-forecast-US-hotels

 Hotel data firms deliver good news at NYU event https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Industry-groups-unveil-revised-2026-US-hotel-forecast

Hotel group says World Cup demand is below expectations https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/World-Cup-demand-is-below-expectations

Folo episode on the World Cup with U.S. Travel's Erik Hanson https://www.travelweekly.com/Podcasts/Folo/US-travel-and-FIFA-World-Cup

The USA is on full display https://www.travelweekly.com/North-America-Travel/USA-on-full-display-250th-anniversary

CoStar Group https://www.costargroup.com/