St. Joseph in early planning stages for the FIFA World Cup
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- In less than a year, 650,000 people are expected to travel into the Kansas City area to watch countries around the world compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
St. Joseph, sitting just 55 miles away from downtown Kansas City, is expected to see an influx of visitors and is beginning to prepare.
"We are purely in an idea phase of what are the things we should be doing, what are other destinations doing that are similar to us," director of communications/ marketing with St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau, Christian Mengel, said. "A lot of conversations surrounding watch parties, festivals and viewing areas and more are being discussed to figure out what would be the best experience for current residents."
Mengel said conferences and conventions geared toward international tourism marketing, as well as conversations with international travel writers, have shared consistent feedback.
International travelers are looking for three things. They will want to travel somewhere with something uniquely American, has a hidden gem or a place with road trip possibilities.
"St. Joseph is perfect in that sense," Mengel said. " In that, in the Kansas City region, we check all those boxes."
St. Joseph is currently being advertised in Kansas City International Airport as well as on buses driving around the city. Ad sizes in Visit Kansas City's visitor guides have grown for St. Joseph as well to draw more eyes from out of country visitors.
"If we target Kansas City at that time, specifically as, 'Hey, this is something to do while you're in Kansas City or while you're in the area for the World Cup,'" Mengel said. "It makes it so much more accessible for them to find out that it's just a 45-minute trip up the road."
The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art has planned a major exhibit of juried exhibition of the American landscape.
"We're going to put out a national call for entries," Executive Director of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art Eric Fuson said. "We'll have some purchase awards so they'll be able to purchase some of the works that are the top ones to put in the permanent collection."
The exhibit will begin on Friday, May 15, 2026, and will run through August 2026.
Kansas City is currently making sure the hotels are prepared, as well as the residents and attractions. For the areas around, like St. Joseph, Mackenzie Wolters, communications manager for Visit KC, said they expect people to stay in St. Joseph.
A notable St. Joseph project currently being worked on is two state-of-the-art hotels and a new conference center on Frederick Ave. The city hopes this project will be finished ahead of the World Cup, but said, "It will be tight."
"You might see people who are here in Kansas City for a match and then in between the next match, they might go up to St. Joseph to explore the Pony Express Museum or to explore more up there," Wolters said. "We want to make sure our museum attractions all across the region are prepared for people to be exploring."
Wolters said international travelers are interested in the "wild west vibe," like the Jesse James experience and the Pony Express.
"We want everyone across the region to stay in their communities and be their most authentic selves," Wolters said. "We want people, when visitors come to the area, to have great people who are great hosts."
More information regarding specific plans for St. Joseph will come out in the future. Kansas City will know which teams will play their games in Arrowhead Stadium in December.
"Brush up on the best museum, the best restaurant to recommend to all of the visitors that we are expecting," Wolters said. "Just be authentic, be yourself."
