As featured in “Hotel Dive”
Jen A. Miller, Hotel Dive, 7 January, 2026
Brad Busby, Executive Vice President, Hospitality at RREAF Holdings, was recently featured in Hotel Dive, where he discussed the upcoming 2026 events that will have an impact on the hospitality industry in the United States. To read an excerpt from the article, including Brad’s comments, please see below.
Big events bolster hotel performance
Hotels in the U.S. are gearing up for big events in 2026, including FIFA World Cup, which will be held across 11 cities, and America’s 250th anniversary in July.
Brad Busby, executive vice president of hospitality at Dallas-based RREAF Holdings, said the company is anticipating an increase in both direct and indirect bookings for the World Cup. Overall, the company is anticipating a 5% to 20% bump in June and July, though he acknowledged that prediction range is “pretty wide.”
Despite the draw of major events, economic factors like tariffs, changes to the visa process and inflation are holding travel flat, said Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality analytics for CoStar Group.
“Demand-wise, it could just be a wash,” Freitag said of big cities hosting events this year.
Corporate event planners that might normally consider one of these host cities for a conference, for example, may go elsewhere to avoid bigger crowds or inflated lodging costs. At the same time, if travelers coming to an event from abroad are making a once-in-a-lifetime trip, “they are going to pay for the rooms,” he said.
RREAF, meanwhile, is anticipating more bookings at its beachfront properties this year, as visitors who come to the U.S. for World Cup matches may want to do additional traveling while in the country, Busby said.
We appreciate and thank Hotel Dive, especially Jen A. Miller, for allowing RREAF to participate in the discussion of 2026 hospitality trends. To access the full article on Hotel Dive, please click here.
