Coldplay Fever Sparks Ahmedabad Hotel Price Surge — India Report

19.11.2024 - 06:53 / skift.com / Adam Burke / Sarah Kopit / Bulbul Dhawan

Last week Coldplay announced an additional India show in Ahmedabad on January 25. Following the announcement, online travel agency Agoda said it witnessed a 47% surge in domestic searches for accommodation in Ahmedabad for that period compared to the previous week’s average. International searches spiked by 18%.

Coldplay will also be playing at three concerts in Mumbai. 

Surge in Hotel Prices: Online search data reveals that Pride Plaza Hotel Ahmedabad is charging up to INR 150,000 (about $1,775) for a two-night stay during the concert dates. A week later, the price drops to INR 32,400 (around $380) for two nights.

ITC Narmada, typically priced at INR 33,000 ($390) for a two-night stay a week after Coldplay’s concert, is charging INR 125,000 ($1,480) for the same duration from January 24 to 26. According to the hotel website, only one room is available at this price for these dates.

Mumbai had also experienced a spike in hotel rates after Coldplay’s initial announcement. In Mumbai, hotel prices near the DY Patil Stadium surged to INR 640,000 ($7,600) for three nights. 

Skift had earlier reported about the rise of music tourism in India. The country has had back-to-back sold out concerts, from Bryan Adams to Diljit Dosanjh. Music festivals like Lollapalooza also witnessed rapid selling out of tickets as Indians are traveling from all over the country to attend these events. In fact, Indians are also traveling outside the country to watch their favorite performers live.

In Line With International Travel: Indians are not the only ones traveling for music events. The trend has been observed across the globe. A look at Coldplay’s website shows that its upcoming shows across the globe are sold out.

In an earlier feature, Skift Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit had quoted Los Angeles Tourism CEO Adam Burke saying that one stop of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour brought $320 million in incremental business sales, 3,300 jobs and an additional $160 million in local wages. Skift has estimated the tour generated an incremental $1.2 billion for the U.S. travel industry in 2023 across flights, hotels, short-term rentals and other additional expenditure.

Online travel company MakeMyTrip has acquired expense management platform Happay from Indian fintech company CRED. With this, the OTA is expected to strengthen its presence in the corporate travel segment.

Happay’s team would “continue to seamlessly support the existing client base while working in close partnership with MakeMyTrip’s corporate travel services team,” MakeMyTrip said in a statement.

Founded in 2012, Happay provides travel and expense management software for corporates. In May 2023, the company underwent a restructuring that led to an almost 35% reduction in