Fans travelling to the next three football World Cups to support their teams have been warned that they can expect to pay a small fortune for their hotel rooms by the time the tournaments come round.
The warning, given by the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index, came after its latest stats showed that average room rates during last year’s World Cup in South Africa sky-rocketed to an incredible $118, an increase of 21%, and this increased further to 28% in Cape Town, where room rates jumped to $122 per night.
And the HPI warned that supporters intent on traveling to the tournaments in Brazil (2014), Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) could be faced with similar costly hotel rooms.
Brazil hotel room rates actually surged by 24% over the last 12 months, rising to $129 a night, while Sao Paulo saw an increase of 41% in its hotel room rates, the biggest increase of any major city in the world.
A booming local economy and strengthening Brazilian currency also saw Rio De Janeiro’s hotel prices shoot up by 28%.
Russia, with room rates at around $132 on average, and $149 in Moscow, was ranked as the world’s most expensive country for hotel rooms, while Doha in Qatar was ranked 3rd on the list of most expensive cities, with rooms costing $169 per night.
Alison Couper of Hotels.com explained that “Last year’s South African data shows that the phenomenon known as the ‘World Cup Effect’ is very real, and it’s a growing problem for football fans when it comes to finding affordable hotel accommodation.”
“Room rates are typically pushed up due to the heavy demand, especially when a destination has a shortage of good quality accommodation options.”
“The fact that countries like South Africa are already experiencing strong economic growth further compounds the problem,” she added.
It looks as though FIFA have not done fans any favors by selecting Russia and Qatar as the next two host nations after Brazil. They are already very expensive and the World Cup is only going to see costs go up further.”