India-Pakistan WC match: Hotel room tariffs in Ahmedabad skyrocket for October 15

Hotel room rates here have skyrocketed, nearly ten-fold in some cases, for October 15 after the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced the fixtures for the ODI World Cup, showing that India and Pakistan would face off in Ahmedabad on that day.

Rates on various hotel booking websites suggest that unprecedented demand may have led to the sharp surge in the room tariff for October 15, when the arch-rivals will be playing at the Narendra Modi stadium here.

Room rentals have gone up nearly 10 times, with some hotels charging close to Rs 1 lakh, while many are already sold out for that day.

On normal days, room rent in luxury hotels hovers between Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000 in the city. It has jumped to Rs 40,000, and Rs 1 lakh in some places, for October 15.

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As per the hotel booking portal 'booking.com', the rent for one deluxe room for July 2 is Rs 5,699 at Welcome Hotel by ITC Hotels in the city. But, the same hotel will charge Rs 71,999 if one wants to stay for a day on October 15.

Renaissance Ahmedabad Hotel on SG Highway, which now charges nearly Rs 8,000 for a day, is showing the per-day room rent at Rs 90,679 on the match day in October.

Similarly, Pride Plaza Hotel on SG Highway has upped its rental to Rs 36,180 for that day. The Cama Hotel on Sabarmati Riverfront, an otherwise budget-friendly hotel that would charge little over Rs 3,000 for the upcoming Sunday, has hiked its rental to Rs 27,233.

Owing to the unprecedented demand, rooms are not available for October 15 at ITC Narmada, Courtyard by Marriott, Hyatt and Taj Skyline Ahmedabad, all five-star hotels in the city.

According to the office-bearers of the Hotels and Restaurants Association (HRA) – Gujarat, the prices were hiked by hotels in accordance with the demand, mostly from Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) as well as upper-middle-class cricket fans living in other states.

When inquiries start pouring in for some particular dates, hotels would increase their tariff, said HRA-Gujarat spokesperson Abhijeet Deshmukh.

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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,” said Deshmukh.

The demand is mainly from NRIs as well as the upper middle class or rich class living in other cities or states, he said. These cricket fans’ first choice is luxury hotels and they won’t hesitate to travel long distances to watch such interesting cricket matches, he said.

“Since their 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,” said the spokesperson.

He added that budget hotels in the city have yet to witness such a surge because middle-class cricket fans, who would prefer such places, will make a decision to come here or not for the match only at the last moment.