Hotel room prices rise as fans flock for Grand Slam of Darts
Hotel prices in Wolverhampton will be 40 per cent higher than the same time last year when the Grand Slam of Darts hits the city, according to new research.
A study by Hotels Combined has found that between Saturday and the following Sunday visitors will pay an average of £62 per night for a hotel in the city – compare to £45 last year.
The return of the popular darts event at the Civic Hall has 'clearly driven prices up' according to the hotel price comparison site.
A spokesman said: "The average cost of hotels per night for the month of November is £53, so it’s clear that the event has driven prices up."
Councillor Milkinder Jaspal urged hotels to think again about their pricing – saying Wolverhampton needs to keep prices reasonable to attract people throughout the year, rather than hiking rates just for big events.
Councillor Jaspal, cabinet member for governance, said: "My view is that the prices of hotels should be reasonable, and I don't think they should up them just because there's a tournament on.
"If I was in the hotel trade I wouldn't raise prices for one event – they should want to attract people every day for 12 months, not just for one tournament.
"I would urge hotels to think about the medium or long term effects regarding their reputation.
"If they up the prices because an event is on then that pinches people in the pocket.
"We don't want people to be fleeced just because there's a tournament on. As a city we want people coming here for weekends, or days out.
"We need the hotels to be reasonable so people stay in the city."
