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FIFA fever grips India
Indian football fans are defying geopolitical tensions, high airfares, and a weakening rupee to attend the FIFA World Cup 2026. This year, a growing number of travelers, including those from tier-2 cities, are willing to spend significantly on customized itineraries, viewing the tournament as a significant lifestyle investment and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Indian football fans are preparing to travel halfway across the world for what many see as their last chance to see icons such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in action on the sport’s grandest stage during the FIFA World Cup 2026, braving geopolitical tensions, soaring airfares, a depreciating rupee and calls for avoiding non-essential overseas travel.
Travel industry executives say Indian travellers have evolved from niche, metro-centric fans into broader experience seeking global tourists willing to spend Rs 4-15 lakh each for customised itineraries around the quadrennial championship, which is being jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States this year across 16 cities from June 11 to July 19.
Demand is increasingly driven by travellers aged 28-45 from metros such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, with growing interest also emerging from tier-2 cities, including Ahmedabad and Indore, according to Hari Ganapathy, chief executive of Pickyourtrail.
Emotional Value
“Indian football fans are still willing to spend on FIFA travel because the tournament carries strong emotional and aspirational value. For many, this is not a regular holiday. It is a once-in-four-years global event and, for some travellers, a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he said, adding travellers are increasingly building holidays around culture, food, sightseeing and regional exploration.EaseMyTrip co-founder Rikant Pittie said Indian football travellers are no longer limited to affluent metro consumers. “This segment now includes a younger, aspirational audience that treats a FIFA World Cup as a primary lifestyle investment,” he said, noting double-digit growth in high-intent enquiries from tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Pickyourtrail has seen a 55-60% jump in FIFA-linked enquiries over the past year, with confirmed bookings currently at 25-30%, said Ganapathy. Average package costs are trending between ₹4 lakh and ₹6.5 lakh, while premium itineraries with hospitality access can stretch to ₹10-15 lakh. He said travellers have been booking four-five months in advance this time, instead of three-four months during the previous FIFA cycle, due to visa complexities, airfare concerns and accommodation shortages.
The itineraries are becoming longer and more elaborate. Fans are combining matches with tourism circuits spanning destinations such as New York, Las Vegas, Miami, Cancun and Hawaii, often adding stopovers in London, Doha or Dubai to optimise pricing and routing.
Pittie said overall spending for mid-to-premium FIFA travel experiences is expected to range between ₹4-8 lakh, with luxury hospitality-led itineraries costing significantly more.
He added that travellers are extending stays by 15-20% compared to previous editions while increasingly opting for bundled premium packages, no-cost equated monthly instalment options and early-bird discounts to manage increasing costs.
The weakening rupee and global uncertainty are also reshaping how travellers finance such trips. Pavan Kavad, managing director at Prithvi Exchange, said travellers are increasingly opting for multi-currency prepaid forex cards, phased currency purchases and rate-lock mechanisms to protect against the rupee-dollar exchange rate fluctuations. “If the rupee weakens from ₹92 to ₹96 against the US dollar, a $5,000 World Cup trip immediately becomes nearly ₹20,000 more expensive,” Kavad said.
Industry bodies say travellers remain cautious but undeterred. Anil Kalsi, board member at Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality, said Indian fans are becoming more value-conscious.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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