India sealing a place in the Cricket World Cup finals has not just raised the enthusiasm of cricket devouts in the country but also set soar fares of hotels and flights to Ahmedabad as the final match would be played at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium. The price for a night stay in Ahmedabad has crossed six figures and there has been a manifold increase in prices of domestic flights and there is almost a twofold increase in airfares of international sectors connecting Ahmedabad.
The tickets for the finals between India and Australia got 'sold out' already and now there is a mad scramble to get tickets at a "premium” or in the black market. Cricket enthusiasts faced a waiting time of two to three hours to book tickets for key matches featuring India and in the end majority of the people were left disappointed as the tickets got sold out.
The hotel industry saw a boom earlier in the World Cup for the India-Pakistan match. However, for the finals, the craze is altogether different.
The Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, the world’s largest with a seating capacity of one lakh, is expected to be full. There is a grapevine that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to witness the match.
The star hotels in Ahmedabad have an inventory of 4,500 and all rooms, including star and non-star come to about 12,000. But the ones spending so much on tickets and airfares won’t like to stay in a non-star hotel. In some hotels, the rates are as high as Rs 1.50 lakh plus for a one-night stay and yet the rooms aren’t available.
Associate vice president of Pride Hotel Kaustubh Mukherjee told THE WEEK that in their Pride Plaza Hotel in Ahmedabad the highest room tariff is Rs 60,000 plus. He said that there has been a fourfold increase in hotel tariffs.
The airfare between Ahmedabad and New Delhi, which generally costs about Rs 2,500-Rs 5,000 is now costing about Rs 25,000. Sources said that the fares of flights coming from the USA and Canada to India have also doubled.
There is no veracity, but in the social media groups, rates for the tickets in the black market are doing rounds. The tickets priced at Rs 2,000 are being sold at a “premium” of Rs 34,000, Rs 2,500 for Rs 42,000 and Rs 3,500 for Rs 58,000. The black market price of Rs 10,000 ticket is Rs 1,62,000.
The Indian team that landed at the Sardar Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad received a rousing welcome. A multi-layer security has been put in place and with the possibility of Modi and other dignitaries from India and Australia coming to see the match, the security has been heightened.
