RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011:IRISH FANS travelling to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup next year may be charged up to €800 a night at some hotels during the tournament.

Hotels and bed and breakfast providers around New Zealand are set to hike up prices by as much as 500 per cent during the six-week event in 2011.

Tourism Auckland, one of New Zealand’s central tourism bodies, has also warned visitors that accommodation providers are free to charge as much as they like during the World Cup.

Details of a hike in prices emerged after an English tourist was quoted NZ $1600 (€864) for a one-night stay at a bed and breakfast in Auckland for a minimum 10-night stay during the tournament, while the Hilton Hotel in Auckland was reported to be charging NZ $1,700 (€919) a night with the same conditions attached.

Graeme Osborne, Tourism Auckland’s chief executive, said accommodation providers are free to charge whatever they want during the tournament, but warned “reckless” prices could drive business away from major cities to other parts of New Zealand or even Australia.

Osborne said he hopes prices will not become exorbitant in the run-up to the games, but admitted there is no limit on what can be charged.

“Commerce and free market forces will ultimately determine the pricing structures for the World Cup. If people charge silly prices you encourage customers to find other solutions.”

Ireland are due to play four pool stage matches against the US, Australia, Russia and Italy in New Plymouth, Auckland and Rotorua on New Zealand’s north Island, and Dunedin on the south island, respectively.

However, if accommodation prices soar as anticipated, Tourism Auckland said fans could be forced to look for accommodation elsewhere.

“New Zealand is not a lot different to Ireland where people can travel the length of the country in an hour or two by plane,” Osborne said.

Trevor Brennan Rugby Tours, one of Ireland’s official tour agents for Rugby World Cup packages, confirmed some quotes for accommodation during the games are “ridiculously priced”.

Mark Pinsent, the company’s managing director, who travelled earlier this year to New Zealand to survey accommodation for Irish tour packages, said New Zealand hotels “are shooting themselves in the foot and not doing anyone any favours with prohibitive pricing” structures.

He confirmed that he had been quoted NZ $950 (€513) per night for a minimum six-night stay at a three-star hotel in Wellington, but said that the price quoted would probably be more for individuals as a tour company would be block-booking up to 30 or 40 beds a night.

Irish people will find the New Zealand capital a “pressure pit” for accommodation in the run-up to the games, he said, and advised independent travellers to hold off booking for a couple of months until prices have dropped.

“This happens every time there is a major international sporting event, but people in New Zealand have to realise that it is the other side of the world to Ireland and Irish people are simply not willing to pay ridiculous prices for accommodation.”

Pinsent declined to comment on the individual prices for hotels his company is offering, but said a basic tour package for a two-week trip to New Zealand including flights, transfers, activities, accommodation at Queenstown, Dunedin and Wellington plus match tickets to one Ireland game and two quarter-finals starts at €4.999.

He said his company is trying deal with inflated hotel prices by offsetting other costs in World Cup packages to New Zealand.

The Irish Rugby Football Union have said they are aware accommodation in New Zealand is at a premium and that the issue of price-hiking for international tournaments there has been a “perennial problem” in the past.

As the games run until the end of October, most hotels and BBs have quoted prices without taking many actual bookings because their booking systems don’t allow reservations more than a year in advance.

New Zealand Rugby World Cup minister Murray McCully has also contacted New Zealand’s Hotel Association asking their members to find a balance between charging a reasonable premium during the tournament and keeping the country’s tourism reputation intact.

Some 43,000 people are expected to be in Auckland for the later stages of the tournament.

The Rugby World Cup runs from September 10th to October 23rd, with nine games scheduled to be played at the Eden Park stadium in Auckland, including the semi-finals and finals.