Accommodation prices have soared in all of the four cities where US rock legend Bruce Springsteen will kick off the Irish part of his European tour.
The New Jersey native and the E Street Band, who will be in Ireland for 10 days, first take to the stage at the Boucher Road in Belfast on Thursday at 7pm; Kilkenny’s UPMC Nowlan Park on Sunday; SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork, on May 16; and his final gig on May 19 in Croke Park.
Tickets are still available for three of the gigs, with the Cork concert now completely sold out. Availability for Belfast and Kilkenny is extremely low, while there are still tickets for his Dublin gig.
The cheapest priced tickets for Croke Park are €161.25, the few remaining resale tickets for Kilkenny are the same price, while Belfast resale tickets cost between €81 and €105 according to the Ticketmaster website, where they are being officially sold.
On May 16 in Cork, there are 16 hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfasts still offering accommodation. They range in price for a room for two people for one night, with the cheapest being €95 for a bed and breakfast 47km away to €460 for a four-star hotel in the city centre.
Accommodation in Dublin on May 19 is still plentiful but expensive, with the average cost of €350.
Based on two people sharing for one night for all the singer’s gigs, in Belfast there are 31 properties still offering accommodation from shared rooms in private homes starting at €193 to serviced apartments with breakfast costing €1,300.
The average price is about €400.
In Kilkenny, the cheapest bed and breakfast located 29km away is €110 for two people, with the most expensive being a two-bedroom apartment for €900.
A five-star hotel is €480 including breakfast.
Chief executive of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce John Hurley said while the southeast of the country would benefit from the concert, accommodation prices needed to be reasonable.
“Nobody likes price gouging when it comes to accommodation for such events. The public do accept higher prices for occasions such as this and the hotel and accommodation business is seasonal but prices need to be within reason.
The singer, who claims Irish heritage through his grandmother’s side of the family linked to the O’Hagan-Gerritys in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, will see his four gigs in May boost the Irish economy by tens of millions of euros.
His three gigs at the RDS Arena last year benefited the economy to the tune of an estimated €20m.
