Hotel rates already spiking ahead of 2025 Eurovision in Basel

The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is coming to Basel. The crest of the city is between the S and the C. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas

A week after Basel was chosen to host the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) next year, hotel prices are soaring in neighboring cities, Swiss public broadcaster RTS reportsExternal link.

In Zurich, overnight stays on the evening of the ESC final are being snapped up at a premium. At the Züri by Fassbind hotel, the average price on May 17 next year jumped from CHF283 to CHF704 ($336 to $835) for an identical selection of rooms. At the Nani City Hotel, the increase was from CHF186 to CHF444.

RTS saw these practices on the booking.com platform, by comparing offers for the weekend of the ESC final with those for weekends prior to the contest. Of the twenty or so hotels considered, only four did not increase their rates. For others, increases ranged from +10% to +149% at Züri by Fassbind.

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Owner Eric Fassbind told RTS that “rates are dynamic: when it’s busy, prices automatically go up.”

However, he also points out that his hotel didn’t profit so much from the ESC. “Many reservations were made not on the day of Basel being named as host, but on the very night of Nemo’s victory [at the 2024 ESC in Sweden in May 2024]. That night, there were 371 bookings made in our three hotels, an unprecedented number. However, the dynamic rate adjustment system was not active at that time.”

Hotels in Bern are also boosting prices, but to a lesser extent. Of 22 hotels in the capital, a third reported price increases of over 10%. The maximum increase, recorded at the Boutique Hotel Belle Epoque, was 35%. At the Hotel Savoy and Prizeotel Bern-City, the increase also exceeded 30%.

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In Basel, the accommodation issue is taking a different turn. For several weeks already, availability on booking.com for the May 17 weekend has been virtually non-existent.

On Airbnb, RTS analysed the activity of 175 accommodations made available by private individuals. Here, while prices have remained stable for the majority of rentals, the lure of the ESC is still evident: over thirty properties saw a rate hike of at least 10%. Five landlords even doubled or tripled their prices.

Adapted from French by DeepL/dos

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