World Cup 2023, Durga Puja driving surge in hotel, airlines fares in India: Jefferies

With the nail-biting ICC ODI World Cup 2023 tournament all set to begin on 5 October in India and continue till 19 November, merging with Durga Puja, there has been a huge surge in hotel and airline fares.

According to an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services firm – Jefferies – the fares have shot up on average by 150 percent for selective hotels, while 80 percent for selective flights, especially on India match days, reported RedboxGlobal India on 27 September.

Apart from the World Cup 2023, the tenure also coincides with the seasonally strong 3Q for the hospitality industry and the same is likely to benefit both hotels and airlines sectors (including IHCL, and Indigo) in 3Q, said the firm.

World Cup 2023 Schedule:

In the 46 days, 48 matches will take place in 10 different cities in India, where 10 countries are participating. Between 5 October to 19 November, 5 matches each will be held in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune, and 3 matches in Hyderabad.

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Hotel, flight fare surge:

According to Jefferies the hotel and flight rates across the venues for matches featuring India are up on average by 150 percent for selective hotels, while 80 percent for selective flights, compared to the week before match day with some rates up to the extent of 13x and 5x respectively. For non-India match days, fare escalation is lower vs. normal days, the report added.

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Also, as mentioned earlier, the big sporting event is coinciding with a seasonally strong 3Q for the hospitality industry.

Smaller cities see hotels being completely sold out:

While one can see major cities seeing very significant increases in hotel rates, in small cities like Dharamshala hotel rooms are completely sold out. All the rooms are booked for players, support staff, cricket board officials, or media, apart from booking from spectators.

Also, the occupancies for match days are already running high in hotels in bigger cities, resulting in rates rising sharply and rates are likely to mostly increase further closer to match dates.

Playing teams and venues expectedly play a major role in fares:

While there is huge interest in the nail-biting India vs. Pakistan match, both hotel rates and air fares seeing major rises, and the rates for the India vs. Afghanistan match are not much change.

Longer peak season:

In cities like Kolkata and Ahmedabad, the Durga Puja or Navratri festival falls in October, with hotel occupancies and rates generally higher during the 10-day-long festival, as the festival attracts tourists from other parts of India and abroad.

With both Kolkata and Ahmedabad hosting big matches in the World Cup, both the airline's and hotels' rates are peaking high, indicating a prolonged period during this festival season.

As per details, the peak occupancy days for airlines are during festival seasons when rates go up sharply, while for hotels the second half of December are days of peak occupancy and higher rates. However, with the World Cup merging with festivals, the hospitality industry is slated to benefit from the same. Though hotels in business centers tend to see lower occupancies during festival days, World Cup matches this year are fueling occupancy and rates even during festive days, said Jefferies.