Ahmedabad hotel prices touch ₹1 lakh as India vs Pakistan clash soars prices

The World Cup will have its marquee India vs Pakistan match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on October 15. This clash has caused hotel prices around the city to soar ten times the normal rate, with the highest touching ₹1 lakh.

Hotel rates on booking websites showed a surge in prices as fans from across the world flock to Ahmedabad to witness the India vs Pakistan match.

Room rents for luxury hotels, which normally charge ₹4,000 to ₹8,000, have soared to ₹40,000 and ₹1 lakh. Many Ahmedabad hotel rooms are already sold out during match day.

As per ‘Booking.com’, the hotel booking wing of Booking Holdings Inc., the price of one deluxe room at Welcome Hotel by ITC Hotels is ₹5,000 on June 29, and will cost ₹71,999 on October 15. The cost for one room at Renaissance Ahmedabad Hotel will cost ₹90,679 on match day. Similar price surges are seen in luxury hotels all across the city.

On the other hand, five-star Ahmedabad hotels like ITC Narmada, Courtyard by Marriott, Hyatt, and Taj Skyline Ahmedabad are all sold-out for the match day.

“About 80 per cent [of hotel rooms] for the match days are sold. For the opening ceremony and the first match between England and New Zealand, bookings have already been made by travel agencies from England and major corporations,” said Punit Baijal, general manager, Hyatt Regency Ahmedabad.

Ahmedabad hotel price surge due to NRI bookings; will go back to normal rates

Gujarat’s Hotels and Restaurants Association (HRA) officials said that the price hikes were caused by the high demand for hotel rooms, mostly by Non-Resident Indians.

“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,” said Abhijeet Deshmukh, spokesperson for HRA-Gujarat.

“Since their [upper-middle class cricket fans and NRIs] first choice would be luxury hotels and they plan in advance, they might have started booking rooms in city hotels, which might have resulted in no occupancy in some of the hotels,” Deshmukh added.

However, one relief for cricket fans would be that prices in budget hotels have yet to witness such a massive surge, and those will be decided by last-minute bookings from cricket fans, according to the HRA spokesperson.