The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the schedule for the 2023 Men’s World Cup on Tuesday and the tournament is still three and a half months away but the excitement is already visible among cricket fans around the world. The hotel prices in Ahmedabad are skyrocketing more than ten times during the match dates.
The cricket governing body announced that India and Pakistan will go head to head at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 15.
With almost 100 days left for the tournament to start, hotels have started receiving bookings. Prices for a base category room at a five-star hotel in the city have surged up to Rs 50,000 per night in some cases, according to a report by Times of India. On normal days, such rooms would cost from Rs 6,500 to 10,500.
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Prices of luxury hotels in Ahmedabad have increased from an average rate of Rs 5,000-8,000 per room to Rs 40,000-100,000 in some places. In addition, excessive demand has led to the non-availability of rooms at all five-star hotels in Ahmedabad including the Courtyard by Marriott, the Taj Skyline, the ITC Narmada and the Hyatt.
With many people from outside the city coming especially for the marquee tournament, there is a demand and supply gap with hotels in the city having a maximum capacity of 1,32,000, said Nalin Zaveri, President of Saurashtra Chamber of Commerce, reported ANI.
According to a PTI report, Gujarat Hotels and Restaurants Association (HRA) officials said the hotel rates in Ahmedabad have surged mostly due to the demand from NRIs and upper-middle-class cricket fans from all over the country.
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“If the hoteliers think that the demand is very high for a particular period, they will try to make some revenue because they are assured that rooms will be full despite higher rates. Once the demand drops, the room rentals will also come down," PTI quoted HRA-Gujarat spokesperson Abhijeet Deshmukh as saying.
He added that while the prices of luxury hotels have risen drastically, the prices of budget hotels have not seen such a spike as these hotels are preferred by middle-class cricket fans who make their decision to watch the match at the last moment.
Ahmedabad will host five matches for the World Cup 2023 including the opening ceremony and final games.
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