Boston 2026 World Stamp Show

It is all about tourists, be they being blocked by Spain or the USA. Yes the four Germans were tourists. All the hand-ringing in the European press has yet to explain why said visitors were detained. If all paperwork and activities are in order, the would be no detention. At least they were allow in once. Here Spain wants to say go away to tens or hundreds of thousands because they planned to use a short term rental service. Where has the USA told tourists not to come because we don't want your to occupy short term rentals.

No red hats here (actually have never been registered with any political party ever--to many generations of the family learned the hard way about being open with one's political allegiance before arriving here), but a belief in rule following when a tourist or guest and for the right for owners of property to short or long term rent them out or heaven forbid, live in them themselves while allowing them to be vacant between visits. Yes I travel out of this country.




Funny, that is always the argument. But show me where the short term rental market collapsed because there were no locals available to work and provide services to the visiting short term renters. The investors are not selling the properties in question, they are buying properties that the locals are choosing to sell. Likewise if the endeavor was not profitable for the short term rental owners, they would do something else with the property. Investors are people too, trying to make their own living, with property rather than a restaurant or as a coffee server or football player.

Visitors to Boston 2026 World Stamp Show could well save money with short term rental as compared to the hotel expenses. Food? You can still eat out in either accommodation, but of course you are free to prepare your own food at a much less expensive cost at your short term rental.

Tourism here and abroad drives economies, economies which would otherwise wither and die without the visitors' money.

Edit:

Yes I am familiar with the short term rental issues which arise. I laugh when it is said short term rental hurt the poor locals trying to stay in an area.

Stinson Beach, California, just 8 crowfly miles, but three times that distance by car, complained enough to the county (Marin) supervisors to get Short term rentals very very limited. Here is an overview of the small town:


Of course these poor folks complained about being displaced. When $3,000,000.00 dollar homes are owned by poor people, how much money do investors need to run short term rentals? The demand for tourists in the area is due to the fact than within a 15 mile radius are dozens of local, county, state and national parks and recreation areas. Renowned coastal beauty, restaurants and wineries.

Sorry when more folks want to live/visit an area and that exceeds carrying capacity, costs rise to keep the number of folks in check.

Here the county stepped up and purchased property which was converted to long term low income senior housing. What is funny is the unraiseable rents some unchanged for 25 years is not covering the basic costs of upkeep. One of the original seniors to the project is just about 90 years old.

The county purchased another property, on the market for years, nearby and it is now back up for sale. After much publicity and fanfare about doing so, the county found out that the costs involved, especially the septic system were so costly to bring up to current code, that it was impossible to do so and have the property be rented as low-income housing. Nor is it now allowed to be purchased by an investor for short term rental due to the restrictions. Neither is it cost effective to buy and fix up for long term rental due to rent control. Not only is the county out of the money until it sells again it is out of the property tax revenue until it sells. At least the old owner paid the taxes. The county does not tax itself nor does the government seem to be able to get out of its own way.

I have a daughter who lives in Boston and works at a hotel. If she's still there next year, maybe I'll consider going to the show.

The main problem with lodging in the Boston area is that being a sanctuary city a huge percentage of the rooms are spoken for by the Commonwealth to house newcomers. This has been a MAJOR problem for events in Boston and at Gillette Stadium to name a couple. When the Army-Navy game was in town it made the national news because thousands of visitors had nowhere to stay.

This fiscal year 2025 Gov Healey spent and will spend 700 million dollars on 100 hotels for newcomers.

As rogdcam explained above, that is why short term rentals have to be used for the Boston Show. At this point if the USA told tourists they could not stay in short term rentals, then folks, tourists have no where to stay AND those who find hotel accommodations will pay handsomely for the privilege. It is ironic that there in Boston (and in many other cities) short term accommodations were converted to long term housing great enriching the hotel and motel owners.

Of course when Boston was selected years ago, transient housing was not an issue nor anywhere as limited as it is now. Allowing dealers to split show attendance reflects the costly understanding for tourists or short term business arrivals in Boston.

In California where by law you have many, many rights if you live and rent a location for 31 days or more. Some short term renters gamed the system by paying for 29 or the full 30 day maximum and then refusing to leave for another day or two. They then claimed their renters rights for free rent evicted by the courts until months later. Of course, the state exempted themselves from the draconian rental laws so the state paid new comers being housed could be removed from the housing without the state needing to follow their own rules. The really fun rent rule is after 31 days, the was a great limit one how much rent can be raised on the tenant, not more than 5%. Of course those new comers were paying zero and a 5% increase would remain at zero. They could have lived in the hotel for life without a rent increase, or paying any rent.

An option I am reviewing (and maybe a Mass. resident can chime in here) is to stay on Cape Cod and take a commuter train into Boston. Cape Cod has plenty of hotel rooms and rentals as long as you make plans early due to the Memorial day holiday weekend. The train station looks to be a short walk from the convention center.

Some numbers to ponder.
There are roughly 4.5 million people in the Boston area.
There are roughly 5000 families being housed in emergency shelters (including overflow sites and United Way shelters) across all of Massachusetts, with roughly 1,300 in Boston.
Per a story on local Fox news on May 19, 2025, Massachusetts plans to close all emergency state shelters in hotels this summer.
Per Costar's 2023 Boston hospitality market report, there were roughly 63,000 hotel rooms in the Boston area at that time.
Per The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (now MeetBoston) 2024 hotel occupancy in Greater Boston was approx. 77% with the last 3 months of 2024 averaging 74.4%.

With a moderate amount of advance planning I don't think finding a hotel room will be a problem.

You can book rooms now through the booking agent linked in the show website. I got mine weeks ago.

In a pinch perhaps Boston area stampers could take in visitors to the show OR they could house newcomers thus freeing up hotel space. Just a thought.

I haven't used the MBTA in awhile but I don't think there is a regular line out to the Cape. They have a seasonal service called the Cape Flyer on weekends in the summer. Not sure if that will be running then.

But definitely staying out of the city near a commuter rail station and coming in that way would be an option. You'd want to stay on the south shore as those lines run to South Station which is about 3/4ths of a mile walk from the Convention Center. Trains on the north side terminate at North Station which is a little more complicated.

FWIW: The Cape is a nice place to visit, but not convenient to commute to or from. It's approximately 60 miles south of Boston an hour + commute each way, more by car. There are some brand hotels in the perimeter communities around Boston, but rates are usually $100+/night. After rush hours (7a-9:30a & 4:30p-7p) traffic in & out of Boston (to South Boston) is still moderate to heavy (rush is EXTREME). Public transportation, in town & from surrounding communities is sustainable, especially the subways. Most metro communities have bus connections to subway service. I would recommend a Google search to MBTA, subway, bus by community. I myself have been commuting by MBTA to West End, City Hall area for years & have made all my appointments. (On Monday I bus at 9:30a with Orange line connection to Haymarket for an 11:a appointment, usually arriving by 10:30a. avoids parking expense). Close accommodations, public transportation are best options. Driving into Boston & parking is challenging. Uber can be expensive, depending on point of origin & destination & time of day. There are fare packages for reasonable $$ for MBTA public transport. Local show committee should be discussing & putting out basic info now. I'm a confirmed public transport guy. haven't brought a car into Boston since Working @ South Station & only because parking was provided by employer. (They have Discounts for senior riders)

The latest on BOSTON 2026. Already hundreds of applications received!

The Boston 2026 World Expo Organizing Committee has chosen four prominent philatelists to form the exhibition's Selection Advisory Committee. All are experienced gold medal exhibitors as well as APS national and FIP international jurors. They are:

· Darrell Ertzberger – Chairman of the American Philatelic Society (APS) Committee on Accreditation of National Exhibitions and Judges (CANEJ);

· Peter McCann – Past Board Member and President of the APS;

· James Mazepa – Past President of the Inter American Federation of Philately and Chair of the APS International Committee;

· Charles Verge – Past President of the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada

They will be joined by the exhibition management and FIP Consultant Reinaldo Macedo to select the philatelic and literature exhibits, as well as advise on jury composition.

Boston 2026 was recently elevated to a General World Philatelic Exhibition by the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) under their Patronage. Exhibitors from around the world should be aware that applications from all FIP classes are now being accepted, including the Championship Class and the experimental First Day Cover class. The new IREX will be posted online shortly.

With a little under a year to go, the exhibition has already received hundreds of applications exclusively online through the Boston 2026 web site. The new committee will begin their work shortly after the deadline of September 30 for philatelic entries and January 30 for literature entries. Their sections should be finalized by 45 days afterwards.

Thomas M. Fortunato
Boston 2026 Public Relations Chair

The USPS issued the following Boston 2026 promotional stamps at the recent GASS on August 14, 2025. The issue is in se-tenant format and printed in intaglio. The stamps picture the Old North Church in Boston and Paul Revere on his Midnight Ride.

Another milestone at the recent GASS:

https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamp...po?tmp=no=no

Boston 2026's fifth collectible label had its first day ceremony at GASS on August 14, 2025. This last-in-a-series patriotic-themed promotional label was created by award-winning stamp designer Chris Calle, whose artwork has been used for all five annually produced labels. Each sheetlet contains nine water-activated labels of the same design and were printed by The Portland Stamp Company. To facilitate collector demand, one unsigned sheet of 9 may be ordered per person, free of charge, plus postage and handling. Postage and handling charges are $5 to USA addresses and $10 to international addresses, including Canada (sorry Canada). Single signed sheets can be ordered for a $10 donation, plus the aforementioned P&H.

Parcelpostguy, do you live in Boston/nearby?