Concert promoter MCD calls for curb on surging hotel price around big gigs

Swifties travelling to see Taylor Swift in Dublin could pay from €258 to €770 on the first of her three sold-out nights on June 28. whereas the following Friday, rooms cost between €130 and €660. Picture: Natacha Pisarenko/AP

Ireland’s biggest live event promoter has urged the Government to step in to stop hotels from ‘quadrupling room rates’ when superstar performers come to town.

Ireland is set for a bumper year of live events, with global stars such as Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Bruce Springsteen selling out shows in Croke Park, the Aviva Stadium, and Páirc Uí Chaoimh, which has put soaring hotel prices under the spotlight.

Denis Desmond, the co-founder of MCD Productions, one of the largest concert promoters in Europe, has called on the Government to make it illegal for hotels to spike prices at times of high demand.

“Ticket prices are affordable. The biggest problem is hotels quadrupling their rates on the back of concerts and sporting events,” he said. “The Government should step in and make it illegal.”

MCD Productions, in its joint venture business with Live Nation, is expecting to sell 3m tickets in Ireland this year, up 50% on 2023.

Their gigs include three sell-out Taylor Swift concerts at the Aviva Stadium and four sell-out Coldplay gigs at Croke Park.

Mr Desmond said many concert tickets in Ireland are cheaper than West End shows in London or Broadway theatres in New York, with industry figures showing the average price of an MCD ticket last year was €58.

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band playing at the RDS in Dublin in 2023. The Boss returns in 2024 for gigs in Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny and Belfast. Picture: Andres Poveda

“Ticket prices are affordable," Mr Desmond said. "There is a huge cost in putting on shows, be it insurance, ferries, flights, hotels, and wages.” 

New figures from global concert industry journal, Pollstar, show MCD Productions/Live Nation sold more than 2m tickets here last year, with a surge expected this year.

“There are new opportunities in Galway, Limerick, and Cork,” Mr Desmond added. “The live music business continues to grow. The audience age is six to 76-plus.”

Last night, hotel reservations website Booking.com indicated that prices for available hotel accommodation ranged from €258 a night to €770 on the evening of the first Taylor Swift gig on June 28, with just 15% of rooms available.

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In contrast, on the following Friday, prices range from €130 to €660.

At the Herbert Park Hotel, a classic king room is available for €576 on June 28, dropping to €230 the following Friday, July 3.

A double room at the Auld Dubliner in Temple Bar is available for €520 on June 28, dropping to €320 the following Friday.

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan previously described hotel prices as “shocking” around concert dates but said prices can’t be restricted.