Cricket-crazy fans set to add a kicker to India's economy as world cup begins

MakeMyTrip

06/10/2023 04:51

By Ira Dugal
       MUMBAI, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Match tickets selling for up
to 50,000 Indian rupees ($600) a pop. Flights to get to a venue.
Hotel bookings. Or even just a match-watching party with food
and alcohol ordered in.  
    The cricket frenzy set to hit India as the International
Cricket Council's World Cup begins in a nation of cricket-crazy
fans is expected to give a short boost to the country's economy
as consumers splurge to enjoy their favorite sport.
    World Cup related spending could add an estimated additional
output of 180-200 billion Indian rupees in the October-December
quarter with matches spread out over this month and the next,
estimated Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.
    "The World Cup has the potential to boost India’s GDP, more
so because it coincides with the festive season," Sabnavis said.
 "Consumption, particularly services consumption, is likely to
receive the maximum boost. Hospitality and tourism sector are
likely to benefit the most."
    The 13th edition of tournament began in India on Thursday
with 48 one-day international matches scheduled across a two
month period. India last hosted the world cup in 2011, when 1.2
million people attended matches, according to data from
brokerage house Jefferies.
    
    
    Online travel and hotel booking platform MakeMyTrip said it
is seeing increased travel bookings to cities including
Ahmedabad in Western India and Dharamshala in the north of the
country where key matches will be played.
    Ahmedabad, which will host a game between rivals India and
Pakistan on Oct. 14, has seen a 200% increase in room
reservations compared to August, said Rajesh Magow, group chief
executive at the portal.
    Demand for homestays has also risen as cricket fans are
travelling in larger groups to watch matches, he said.
    "On India match days, fares have shot up on average by
150% for select hotels and 80% for select flights compared with
the prior week," said Jefferies in a note this week. 
    Hotels in smaller venues are fully sold out for multiple
days.
    The downside could be that more Indian consumers will stay
in and watch matches rather than go out and spend on movies,
theme parks and malls, said Jefferies.
    "On the other hand, the event should provide boost to food
delivery, quick commerce, alcobev, soft drinks, media, online
gaming etc," the report said. "We expect companies to run
world-cup specific promotions on match days to tap this
consumption boost."
    The increased demand may also mean higher inflation.
    "The upward bias in inflation on this score could be between
0.15-0.25% for these two months," said Bank of Baroda's
Sabnavis, while adding that unpacking the impact of festivals
from the impact of the cricket spectacle is difficult.    
($1 = 83.2340 Indian rupees)

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 (Reporting by Ira Dugal; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
 ((Ira.Dugal@thomsonreuters.com; +91-9833024892;))