ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) – Resort costs all the time go up throughout the Albuquerque Worldwide Balloon Fiesta, however this yr is much more dramatic than typical: attempt 3 times the conventional worth. With Balloon Fiesta on the horizon, the town is bracing for the onslaught of sightseers.
“It isn’t simply concerning the Fiesta. It is about everybody else getting in and the affect that Balloon Fiesta brings to our metropolis, to our eating places, to our different sights,” says Damen Kompanowski, the president of the Higher Albuquerque Resort and Lodging Affiliation (GAHLA).
Nevertheless, for these of us coming in to expertise the fiftieth anniversary of the Fiesta, a fast search of resort choices would possibly come as a shock. After evaluating a handful of in style lodges across the metropolis on completely different reserving web sites for Balloon Fiesta’s opening weekend, the numbers have been staggering.
For instance, a keep in El Vado Motel on a mean weekend night time in November may cost a little round $150. For Balloon Fiesta, the worth is nearer to $550. At Resort Chaco, a keep that may value practically $300 jumps to greater than $600 for Balloon Fiesta. Vacationers we spoke with say they’re used to seeing this in different cities on in style weekends.
“So I have been on nights the place there is not occasions, and it is cheaper than it’s if you go for an occasion. It’s going to increase about one other $200, $300 in that space,” says Cameron Gomez, who’s visiting from Austin, Texas.
That is additionally the case at Resort Albuquerque, Nativo Lodge, and the Hilton Backyard Inn downtown, the place charges will double or triple. However why a lot? Kompanowski says Balloon Fiesta has traditionally been a time when lodges will attempt to maximize their income. “However with that stated, we do herald further staffing, the additional issues that we do. And the pandemic did hit us onerous, so this can be a time that almost all of our wages industry-wide have gone up within the hospitality {industry}; additionally like, meals costs and all the additional bills that we have had throughout this time that may have elevated our charges.”
It isn’t simply conventional lodges, both. A search by way of Airbnb leases in Albuquerque additionally reveals charges rising throughout Balloon Fiesta.