High-Traffic Spaces Turn Phones into Portable Germ Hubs

As travel and hospitality gear up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Swypes is spotlighting an overlooked hygiene habit: people clean their hands but often forget the phones they carry everywhere they go.

CHICAGO, April 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Airports, malls, transit systems, stadiums, and casinos move large numbers of people efficiently. As crowds pass through these spaces, so do the phones in their hands. While hygiene efforts in public venues tend to focus on shared surfaces, one of the most frequently handled objects in circulation often goes overlooked: the mobile phone.

Swypes is calling attention to what it sees as a growing blind spot in public-space hygiene. As millions of people travel, shop, commute, dine, and gather every day, they carry their phones, but those devices are rarely included in any regular cleaning routine.

The scale is hard to ignore. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport handled 108.1 million passengers in 2024 alone, according to Airports Council International. U.S. public transportation delivered 7.7 billion passenger trips the same year, reaching 85% of pre-pandemic levels. And Americans make about 1.3 billion visits to shopping centers each month, with the average adult visiting 5.2 times per month. "Our research suggests less than 20% of people clean their phones regularly", said Josh Bilow, founder and CRO of Swypes. "Phones become the easiest way to carry contamination from one touchpoint to the next".

Bigger Crowds, More Touchpoints

That volume is about to grow. The 2026 FIFA World Cup, running from June 11 to July 19 across 16 host cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is expected to drive a major surge in travel and tourism. Estimates suggest the tournament could draw 1 to 6 million international visitors and account for roughly one in three additional foreign visitors to the U.S. in 2026. For airports, hotels, transit systems, retail centers, restaurants, and entertainment venues, that means more people, more shared environments, and more phones being carried through them all day long.

"Shared spaces work hard to keep environments clean, but phones don't stay in one place," said Bilow. "People carry them from airport security bins to boarding gates, from hotel counters to restaurant tables, from transit seats to stadium concourses while keeping them in constant contact with their hands and faces. That's why phone hygiene deserves attention."

The Habit Still Missing

In Swypes' view, the issue is not only where people carry their phones, but how rarely they think about cleaning them. Hands may be washed throughout the day, but phones often remain outside the routine. In travel, hospitality, and other busy public environments, that makes them one of the most overlooked parts of everyday hygiene.

The opportunity is not to disrupt guest flow with complicated protocols, but to make phone hygiene easier at touchpoints, such as entrances, restrooms, food courts, boarding areas, transit hubs, and event concourses. The wipes are a simple, portable option for organizations that want to support cleaner public environments. "We're not trying to turn public venues into healthcare settings," Bilow said. "We're trying to make phone hygiene feel as natural and convenient as hand hygiene already does. In crowded environments, that small habit makes more sense than people realize."

Swypes are individually packaged hygienic phone wipes formulated with 70% isopropyl alcohol designed for phones and other personal electronics. Created for convenience and portability, they are intended to help remove fingerprints, oils, and everyday buildup without adding friction to already busy routines.

As travel, hospitality, and live events continue to accelerate, and as the World Cup brings even more people into shared spaces, Swypes believes the simplest hygiene habit people and venues can encourage is one of the most overlooked: refreshing the phone that goes everywhere.

About Swypes

Swypes is more than a phone wipe; it's a movement aimed at closing the biggest gap in modern hygiene. Founded on the belief that better health starts with the things we touch most, Swypes is on a mission to make phone cleaning as second nature as handwashing. Swypes' vision is a world where the simple act of swiping a screen doesn't mean spreading illness.

Built on science, designed for daily life, and backed by global health research, Swypes offers safe, effective wipes that protect both people and their devices. By targeting phones — today's most overlooked germ carriers — Swypes empowers individuals, workplaces, and communities to build healthier habits and safer environments.

Learn more at Swypes.

References

• Airports Council Releases 2024 North American Airport Traffic Rankings - Airports Council International - North America. (2025, July 18). Airports Council International - North America. airportscouncil.org/press_release/airports-council-releases-2024-north-american-airport-traffic-rankings/
• Reuters. (2024, November 19). U.S. tourism expected to score big with FIFA World Cup. reuters.com/sports/soccer/us-tourism-expected-score-big-with-fifa-world-cup-2025-11-19/

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SOURCE SWYPES