Beijing Hotel Room Rates Soar Due to 'Messi Effect'... Reservations Increase 30-Fold

Visiting Beijing for a Friendly Match
Tickets Soar in Price but Remain Hard to Get

Hotel prices in Beijing, China have skyrocketed due to the "Messi effect." Demand surged as fans tried to randomly book several hotels or stay at nearby hotels to see the world-renowned soccer player Lionel Messi, who visited China for a friendly match.

According to a report on the 13th by China's state-run Global Times (GT), the price of a suite room at a hotel in Chaoyang District, Beijing, where Messi and the Argentine players are staying, reached 8,738 yuan (about 1.55 million KRW), and reservations are currently fully booked. The accommodation fee for the match day on the 15th jumped to 12,888 yuan.

As of the 15th, hotel bookings in Beijing are more than five times higher than usual, and reservations at luxury hotels in Chaoyang District, where Messi is staying, surged up to 30 times. One fan booked four hotels randomly to see Messi and spent over 10,000 yuan on accommodation.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Tickets for the match featuring Messi range from a minimum of 580 yuan (about 105,000 KRW) to 4,800 yuan (about 870,000 KRW), and scalped tickets are reportedly selling for more than three times the highest price. Argentina is also visiting Indonesia for a friendly match besides China, where ticket prices are said to be less than half of those for the China tour. The Indonesian Football Association announced ticket prices ranging from 283 to 2,009 yuan. After playing the first friendly match against Australia in Beijing, Messi will move to Jakarta, Indonesia, to face Indonesia on the 19th.

Despite the high ticket prices, fans are obtaining scalped tickets through the internet and other means. One fan wrote on Weibo, a Chinese social networking service (SNS), "This might be my only chance in life to see Messi," adding, "Price no longer matters to me." Another fan emphasized, "This visit is Messi's last as a professional soccer player, and it is the first time the Argentine national team has visited China since winning the World Cup, making it very meaningful for fans."

Thanks to Messi's popularity, a training event scheduled to be held at the Beijing National Olympic Sports Center on the 11th was canceled due to safety concerns caused by the crowd of fans. Instead, Messi is scheduled to appear on a Taobao live broadcast channel at 5:05 PM on the 14th, coinciding with the 6·18 Shopping Festival, to interact with fans.