World Cup ‘spillover tourism’ could benefit Whidbey

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Predicting exactly how FIFA World Cup tourism in Washington will affect Whidbey is tough, but the hope is to benefit economically while keeping congestion to a minimum.

Lumen Field in Seattle will host six matches and Vancouver’s BC Place will host seven matches of the international soccer tournament, bringing 48 teams to 16 host cities across North America from June 11 to June 19. Inge Morascini, a contractor with Whidbey and Camano Islands tourism, reported during an Island County Council of Governments meeting on March 25 that the tournament is expected to bring 750,000 visitors to the region, and generate $929 million.

“Which sounds like a tremendous amount of money but, of course, Island County won’t benefit from all that,” Morascini clarified. “Most of that money will be in the Seattle and Vancouver areas.”

Despite its distance from the action, Island County could feasibly draw what Morascini called “spillover tourism.” There is a “high likelihood,” she said, that people will venture outside Seattle for trips before, after and in-between matches.

Demand for overflow lodging is possible but unlikely to be significant; Morascini heard hotels in Seattle are expected to be booked for the tournament’s duration in the city. But, she said the goal is to convert more day trips into overnight stays anyways.

The tournament will take place during the county’s already busy tourist season. During June and July of last year, visitors — the vast majority from in-state — took over 1 million trips to Whidbey and Camano islands, amounting to 1.6 million days in the region and about $19 million spent, Morascini reported. Trips during that time averaged a little over a day.

“We have a large percentage of people coming here for the day. When people do come and stay, we have a high rate of people who stay for four to six days, but the number of day-trippers we have pulls the average down,” she explained.

Island County could add anywhere from 7,500 to 37,500 visitors during the tournament, according to Morascini. She cautioned that factors like political climate and travel feasibility could determine how large that number actually is.

Monday, a partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security — and, by extension, air travel in the U.S. — reached 45 days, the longest in history according to CBS News. Saturday, “No Kings” protests took place nationwide, and drew upwards of 2000 demonstrators on Whidbey.

With an influx of tourism, however, comes risks of transportation constraints, particularly with only two ways off of Whidbey Island. Morascini said the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry is already highly utilized, and that Deception Pass State Park — one of Washington’s busiest parks — will be in its peak season of visitation at the time of the tournament.

“We could experience some potential congestion spikes,” Morascini said. “The capacity limits and timing influences are really hard to predict.”