Hungry hotels hike up prices

2nd December 2011

With Euro 2012 fast approaching many hotels and private apartments in the host cities are boosting their prices, some as much as 27 times the normal price.

According to research carried out by Gazeta Wyborcza, the most drastic price hike is for a private apartment in Gdynia’s Sea Towers which will set visitors back a sky-high PLN 9,500 a night, compared to the normal PLN 349.

In Gdansk, one night in Kobza House was quoted at PLN 4,750 (normal price PLN 323) whilst in Wroclaw the top price found by the paper is PLN 7,990.

Mikolaj Piotrowski, a spokesman for PL.2012 which is coordinating Poland’s preparations for the event, believes that if hotels are not careful, their greed may end up costing them in the long run.

“The cup is indeed a great opportunity for us to increase the country’s tourist industry. Euro 2012 can no doubt help boost the number of tourists who will visit Poland, however this depends on how the tournament is received. Hotels repeatedly raising their prices is very short-sighted and could cause them to suffer in the future, and have a knock-on effect on the industry as a whole.”

To see the consequences of such hikes, one only has to look back to Euro 2008 where hotels raised their prices so much prior to the competition that many rooms remained empty. Even a reduction in price nearer the time had little effect as many fans had already made reservations away from the capital.

“We recently met with representatives from Holland and Sweden’s Supporters’ Association,” adds Piotrowski. “They told us that if prices are too high, fans will choose to stay away from the host cities or even in Germany. This way we all lose out.”