Report: U.S. Travel System Not Ready for FIFA World Cup, Olympics

The United States needs immediate action within the travel industry ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup, 2026 FIFA World Cup, 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and other events, the U.S. Travel Association said with the release of an advocacy report.

The Commission on Seamless and Secure Travel, which issued the report, is comprised of former government officials from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, and the State Department along with private sector experts from airport management and investment entities.

The report cited aging infrastructure, slow visa processing times and outdated security technology as to why wait times for visitor visas in countries such as Colombia can run up to 700 days. The report estimated that 40 million people could visit the United States for the 2025 Ryder Cup, the World Cup, the Olympics and Paralympics, and America’s 250th birthday.

“The message is that while we may be 16 months from the World Cup, the window is closing in terms of the time to make necessary travel,” said Geoff Freeman, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Travel Association. “We need a great degree of urgency that we have not seen before. We need to focus on improving the travel experience. We’ve got demand that is reaching all-time highs and that’s before international travelers start rolling in these events. So we need to focus on pieces. What are we doing?”

The report calls for four main steps to be taken by the federal government

• Establish White House leadership to showcase America at premier events.
• Deliver on President Trump’s promise to process visas efficiently and securely for the 2026 World Cup.
• Create the world’s most advanced and secure airport screening process by investing in security technology.
• Create strong, modern and efficient airport borders to keep America safe and global travel moving.

[For more, check out Northstar’s additional coverage on Wednesday’s event]
“I know the President has spoken frequently about making this the greatest World Cup, talked about making this an extraordinary (2028) Olympics,” Freeman said. “To do those, to achieve those goals, requires some underlying work and I think that they’re increasingly aware of what that underlying work is. There’s an interest, there’s a willingness to do things differently, which I really welcome because we continue to do things through our antiquated ways and expect different results.”

In August of last year, United States Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), co-chairs of the Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus, led a bipartisan group of 19 senators in calling for a White House Task Force on Global Sporting Events. Along with the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympic Summer Games, the 2029 World University Games will be staged in North Carolina, cities to be chosen at a future date will host the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup and 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup, and Salt Lake City will host the 2034 Olympic Winter Games.

“This summer, where we host the Club World Cup, is a test run,” Freeman said. “How effective is the U.S. at managing these events? Last year we hosted Copa America and things did not go as smoothly as they needed to go. So I think you’re always going through a test run. You’re always being judged for how effective you are.  You’re always being compared to others that do it and we need to put our best foot forward.”

In addition to security reforms outlined throughout the report, U.S. Travel called for modernization of air traffic control technology and solutions to the nation’s air traffic controller shortages.

“The Ryder Cup, the World Cup, the Olympics, the Winter Olympics, these opportunities don’t go around often,” Freeman said. “We need to obviously capitalize on the opportunity, both the economic opportunity, the demonstration that the U.S. is the gold standard when it comes to facilitation, the establishment that the U.S. welcomes travelers and we’ll give them the experience they deserve. That’s what this opportunity is. We either take advantage of it or we don’t.”