World Cup 2023: How the 10 host cities stack up in travel and hotel bookings

Airfares for the top match venues from sectors like Mumbai and Delhi are witnessing 30-60 percent surge for October-November period.

The upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 is driving up travel demand and hotel bookings. The tournament scheduled from October 5 has led to hotels and air carriers scoring big with a spike in room tariff and flight cost in the 10 host cities - Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.

Cities hosting prominent matches like the India-Pakistan match along with semi-final and final matches are recording high number of room bookings as well as significantly higher room rates. Airfares for the top match venues from sectors like Mumbai and Delhi are witnessing 30-60 percent surge for October-November period.

Moneycontrol takes a look at how each of the 10 host cities are faring in terms of travel and hotel demand.

Ahmedabad: The opening match of the cricket tournament will be in Ahmedabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The city will also host the highly anticipated match between India and Pakistan on October 14 as well as the final match.

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Air fares: Ahmedabad has emerged as a fan favourite due to the prominent matches the city is hosting, resulting in high surge in air fares. Airfares for Ahmedabad from sectors like Mumbai and Delhi are witnessing 50-60 percent surge for October-November, according to data by travel firms Thomas Cook and SOTC. A one-way average flight fare for Delhi- Ahmedabad last year was Rs 4,973 which has increased to Rs 12,000 for Indigo flights and Rs 22,000 for Vistara flights, an increase of more than 100 percent, travel aggregator Ixigo data revealed.

Hotel demand: Ahmedabad recorded the highest number of searches for stays with a 1,702 percent surge, according to digital travel platform Agoda. Ahmedabad has the highest spike in hotel fares during the India versus Pakistan match. Matchday bookings in Ahmedabad continue to be on an uptick, with a 200 percent increase in accommodation bookings, including hotel and homestays, over the city’s average daily room night bookings in August 2023, according to MakeMyTrip data. Searches on Airbnb for Ahmedabad increased by over 4,000 percent for the much anticipated India and Pakistan match.

Lucknow: The India versus England match is drawing more cricket fans to the city.

Air fares: The city is seeing a 20-40 percent surge in air fares.

Hotel demand: The city has recorded the third highest number of searches for stays with a 225 percent increase in searches for match days. There is around a 4x surge in tariffs for hotels in Lucknow. The city is among the top destinations preferred for homestays. Lucknow has seen a 340 percent surge in bookings for homestays.

Mumbai: The city will host five World Cup matches including the first semi-final match.

Air fares: The city has seen a 40-50 percent increase in air fares for October to November period.

Hotel demand: Mumbai has seen 154 percent increase in searches for stay. Tariffs are seeing 2-3x increase.

Pune: The city is expected to see a huge influx of cricket fans, resulting in huge demand for hotel rooms and surge in travel bookings. The city will host the India versus Bangladesh match on October 19.

Air fares: For Pune, air fares have increased in the range of 20-40 percent.

Hotel demand: Pune is the fifth highest city in terms of searches for stay. The city recorded a 169 percent increase in searches for stay. Room charges vary from Rs 25,000 to over Rs 50,000 a night. Based on the searches made on Airbnb between January and June 2023, Pune has emerged as a hotspot for cricket driven tourism.

Bengaluru: The tech city has become home for a lot of sports with many major sporting events including the Indian Premier League (IPL), being held in Bengaluru. This is resulting in high demand for accommodation, said hoteliers.

Air fares: Flight tickets are tracking over Rs 4,800 for Mumbai-Bengaluru route a week before the India versus Netherlands match on November 12. The rates go up to Rs 6,820 for the same route for match day.

Hotel demand: Room rates on match day are in the range of Rs 13,899- Rs 23,600 for India versus Netherlands match on November 12. A week before, the rates are in the range of Rs 17,700-Rs 20,945.

Delhi: The city will host five matches at Arun Jaitley stadium, which has a capacity of 55,000 spectators.

Air fares: A Jefferies note points out that for the India versus Afghanistan match on October 11, fares for the Mumbai-Delhi route are over Rs 6,000. However, the rates drop for the match day at Rs 4,745.

Hotel demand: Delhi hotels have witnessed a jump of 25 to 30 percent in terms of room bookings, according to travel platform Yatra. According to MakeMyTrip, homestay bookings in Delhi are growing significantly.

Chennai: The city will host one of the prominent matches of the tournament- the India versus Australia match on October 8.

Air fares: The city is recording around 14 percent increase in flight rates on match day as compared to flight rates a week before. For the Delhi-Chennai route, air fare is over Rs 6,600 versus Rs 5794 a week before the match day.

Hotel demand: Room rates are in the range of Rs 9440-Rs 14,220 a week before the India-Australia match. On match, room rates are tracking in the range of Rs 48,380-Rs 55,000. Bookings in Chennai for homestays are growing significantly, according to MakeMyTrip.

Hyderabad: The city will host the least number of matches during the World Cup. Only three matches will be held in Hyderabad as compared to five in other host cities.

Air fares: The city is seeing a 20-40 percent surge in fares.

Hotel demand: The city with a 199 percent increase in search for stays is among the top host cities which have witnessed search spikes around the match dates. Hotel aggregator Oyo has witnessed a more than usual surge in demand across the host cities, specifically in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad where occupancy is more than 60 percent. Bookings for October and November have jumped 102 percent in the city.

Kolkata: October will be a peak period in Kolkata in terms of travel and tourism. The Durga Puja festival in October is peak season in Kolkata with hotel occupancy rates generally higher during the 10-day-long festival, which attracts tourists from other parts of India and abroad, a Jefferies note said. As there are no matches in Kolkata during the Durga Puja holidays, occupancies for hotels in the city are likely to be higher for a prolonged period during this festival season.

Air fares: Top match venues like Kolkata from sectors like Mumbai and Delhi are witnessing 30-40 percent surge in flight rates for October-November period.

Hotel demand: Room rates are tracking in the range of Rs 11,200-11,800 before match day whereas the rates increase to 36,500 to over Rs 66,000 on match day.

Dharamsala: Smaller cities like Dharamsala are also seeing high traction in terms of flight and hotel bookings especially due to the India-New Zealand match.

Air fares: Flight tickets are trending 20-40 percent higher for the city. Jefferies’ data shows that for the India versus New Zealand match on October 22, air fare for morning Indigo flight is Rs 11,521 on September 29 between Delhi-Dharamsala route. For the same route, it is Rs 24,355 on match day.

Hotel demand: Reservations for hotels and homestays in Dharamshala where India will take on New Zealand on October 22, has recorded a 605 percent jump above the daily average. Room tariffs have seen a 4x surge. While major cities are seeing very significant increases in hotel rates, hotels in small cities like Dharamsala are completely sold out for multiple days, according to Jefferies.