Toronto hotel prices will jump by 78 per cent during the World Cup

FIFA World Cup madness has now spread far beyond the city’s pitches and public houses, infecting Toronto’s army of hotels—to the tune of a 78-per-cent average price jump, according to a report from The Athletic. The hike is in part a product of the city’s 2.5-per-cent World Cup tax increase on hotels and short-term rentals.

Related: Hotels are mad about Toronto’s World Cup tax increase

And while Toronto’s premium billing is a bit rich for the everyday tourist, the city is by far the least egregious offender. The report found that, overall, hotel prices in the World Cup’s 16 host cities has skyrocketed by 328 per cent following the release of the tourney schedule.

In Mexico City, hotel prices spiked a whopping 961 percent on average, with one hotel normally listed at $157 per night now charging $3,882. Houston, meanwhile, has seen a 457-per-cent raise. New York and New Jersey today stand at 228 per cent.

But Toronto’s relative generosity isn’t a Canadian thing: the Vancouver market is seeing a 344 percent increase, with some lodgings reaching more than $1,700 a night.

“Just like during the Super Bowl every year, rates in a host city are going to be higher than normal because of the demand,” says Sara Anghel, president and CEO of the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, a hotel advocacy group. “FIFA is going to be six Super Bowls for Toronto.”

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The World Cup is the globe’s largest sporting event, and next June’s edition will be the biggest yet, featuring more than 100 games.

Other than matches, many fans are travelling to Toronto just to be “part of the citywide excitement,” Anghel added.