Christ Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Expected to bring some 600,000 tourists to Brazil next year between June 12 and July 13, this massive international event will undoubtedly lead to a spike in hotel and flight prices in the country. The Brazilian Tourist Board, or Embratur, expects that in Rio de Janeiro -- where the final match will be played in the legendary Maracana stadium -- the average price for a one-night stay in a hotel room will be around $461 (€340). During the first quarter of 2013, in comparison, a night in a Rio hotel cost €201 ($274) on average, according to the Hotels.com price index,
In Fortaleza, Brazil's fifth largest city, located in the northeast, the average price for a hotel room is expected to be $335 (€245) in 2014, around three times more than this year.
According to Embratur, Brazilian authorities hope to minimize this effect through informative initiatives for hotel professionals. These focus on the negative impacts an excessively rapid spike in prices could have on the tourism industry in the long run.
Above all else, however, the country is counting on an increase in the number of hotel rooms available. Currently home to 10,000 hotels nationwide, Brazil is expected to gain an additional 170,000 hotel beds before the event in 2014. The southeastern city of Belo Horizonte, where six matches including one semi-final will be held, will build around 30 new hotels, while Sao Paulo will add five new hotels near its airport. In total, Brazil will go from currently offering 460,000 hotel beds to having 506,470 in June 2014, Embratur announces.
Prices for flights to Brazilian cities are also expected to increase ahead of the World Cup. Kayak estimates that the trend will be most pronounced for flights within the country, where it predicts a 30 percent rise in the average cost of flights to Rio from within the country (€220) and a 15 percent rise in the same figure for Sao Paulo (€186).
For international flights to Brazil, an increase is also likely to be seen. Kayak estimates a 29 percent increase in the average cost of a flight from the UK to Rio in June/July 2014 ((average price of €1103) compared to the same period in 2013, but just a 13 percent increase in the cost of flights from the UK to Sao Paulo (average price of €1074) over the same period .
The website also indicates that among fans traveling from the European continent, those departing from the UK will likely pay the most for their flights to Brazil. The average price for a trip to Rio from Great Britain will be $1500/€1103 (+29%). Those departing from Spain, on the other hand, will enjoy the lowest average prices, with flights to Sao Paulo starting at €823, an 11 percent decrease compared to 2013.
Source: Relaxnews