Irish the losers as extra day’s racing hits Cheltenham punters
The extra day has meant a considerable increase in revenue locally, but the Irish are footing the bill.
Although thousands still go on package trips, many others organise their own accommodation in either private houses or bed and breakfasts. Since the four day format was introduced last year, this group in particular have noticed steep price increases.
And some travel agents are now limiting their involvement - Joe Slattery of Slattery Travel in Cork said he had stopped organising a charter flight after many years involvement because it was no longer feasible. “We used to do a straight three day trip with flights and accommodation. But with the festival becoming a four-day event, many of my clients wanted different packages. I found it was not worth my while, so this year I’m just doing a few accommodation packages,” he said.
However, he added he regularly heard stories about people complaining about being ripped off for both hotel and private accommodation.
“The prices do consistently go up and there is also a sterling differential to account for, so many Irish people may find the prices outrageous.”
One Cork punter revealed last night that he paid up to £90 Stg. a night for B&B during festival week. “It is only about a mile from the course, but I think it is outrageous that you’d pay £450 Stg. for a B&B for the week. These people should remember that this is not the Ryder Cup,” he said.
A Munster bookmaker also revealed that he rented a three bedroomed house for the festival and it cost him over £1,200 for the week.
One property, adjacent to the racecourse which has five bedrooms and can accommodate ten is available for £6,500 Stg for the week.
According to Cheltenham Tourism spokesperson Sue Adie, they had not noticed “any spectacular increase in prices this year,” although she did admit there was a natural premium on accommodation in the town during the festival given the levels of demand.
Cheltenham publican George Doyle said he reckoned that as much as 20% of the total annual economic activity in the town was carried on during festival week.
“The extra day has certainly put a good bit of strain on guys travelling from Ireland,” the manager of the town centre O’Neills pub said.
“But what a lot of Irish people don’t realise is that there have been a load of budget hotels open in Cheltenham in the last year or so and they provide an alternative to the traditional accommodation,” Mr. Doyle said.
“This is the Olympics of racing, except that it happens every year. Demand is naturally huge, so accommodation can come at premium prices. It is not unlike your part of the world during the Cork Week sailing festival when many local people rent out their houses for big prices. If there’s demand, people will react to it.”
According to Joe Slattery, hotel prices this year will be reasonably in line with last year, although he said that rooms in Bristol were more expensive now simply because of local demand and had nothing to do with the Cheltenham festival. “I’d advise people to wait before booking, because hotels will reduce prices if they are not filling their rooms,” he said.
