About this episode

Zach Busekrus discusses the challenges facing the hospitality industry in light of the 2026 World Cup and other current events with guests Edwin Kramer, Scott Eddy, and Ben Wolff.

Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUyApple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality The hospitality industry was supposed to print money during the 2026 World Cup. Instead, nearly 80% of hotels across the eleven US host cities are pacing significantly below forecasts, with Kansas City operators calling it a non-event and Boston, Philly, and San Francisco not far behind. On this week's episode, Zach is joined by Edwin Kramer, Scott Eddy, and Ben Wolff to unpack what went wrong — visa friction, FIFA's extortionate ticket pricing, geopolitical headwinds, and a hospitality industry that mistook the World Cup logo for a marketing strategy. Edwin offers a sharp European perspective on why the math was always going to be brutal for international travelers, while Scott levels a familiar critique: hotels keep believing their own projections instead of doing the basic work of telling guests how to actually get to the match.From there, the conversation moves to Priceline's surprisingly sharp…

People in this episode

Host: Zach Busekrus

Guests: Edwin Kramer, Scott Eddy, Ben Wolff

Topics covered

• hospitality industry
• World Cup impact
• airline industry
• hotel projections
• outdoor hospitality
• OTA wars

Keywords

• hospitality
• World Cup
• hotels
• airlines
• Spirit Airlines
• Priceline
• Under Canvas
• travel
• geopolitical issues

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: FIFA, Under Canvas, Spirit Airlines

Places: Kansas City, Boston, Philly, San Francisco

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