Oasis Murrayfield concert clash with Fringe sees accommodation prices soar as high as £7,734 a night

The cost of hotel rooms in Edinburgh have soared for the period when Oasis is playing at the same time thousands of people flock to the city for the festivals

It was always an inevitable consequence of the timing of the Oasis three-night tour at Murrayfield Stadium falling in the middle of Edinburgh’s hectic festival season.

Now it has emerged the increased pressure on accommodation in the city has seen hotel and self catering costs soar by hundreds of pounds a night, with property owners cashing in on soaring demand.

​Oasis will perform three concerts at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Some hotels have increased prices for the tour dates by hundreds of pounds a night - pushing the cost of a stay at one city centre hotel as high as £2,702 on the first day of the concert run - almost £1,000 more than the price charged a week earlier.

Meanwhile, a stay at one modest self catering property near the stadium is on sale for £6,493 for the first night of the tour, while the owner of another private home, more than eight miles away from the gig, is offering a stay for £7,734 for a night.

This comes as Edinburgh emerged as the scam hotspot for fans trying to get their hands on Oasis tickets. A report published this week from Lloyds found Oasis fans have collectively lost more than £2 million to scams since tickets for the band’s long-awaited reunion tour went on sale last year - with those in Edinburgh most likely to be scammed.

An investigation by The Scotsman found the price of a two-bedroom suite at the luxury Righ Aparthotel in the Old Town is on sale on Booking.com for £2,702 for August 8 when the 1990s powerhouse band is due to play its first concert at Murrayfield Stadium.

A week earlier, on August 1, when the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has already begun, but Edinburgh is not hosting a major concert, the price for the same hotel suite is £1,794 a night. Seven days before that, before the start of the festivals, the cost of a room is £1,283 a night.

“Supply and demand will always dictate a destination’s room rates around the world and we all have to accept that,” says Neil Ellis, chair of the Edinburgh Hotels Association.

“Unfortunately for Oasis fans, the venue and promoters chose the August dates and I’m sure had they been playing outside of the festival in a quieter period, rates for accommodation and travel to Edinburgh would be lower.”

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He says he believes the city “provides value” for visitors all year round.

“The variety of accommodation and pricing in our wonderful city offers visitors the option to visit when they wish or to be able to budget accordingly,” he says. “The city centre average room rate for the last year was approximately £180, which means there were dates when rates were higher and many dates and months where they were lower.

“Edinburgh is on many people's bucket list and our offering is always improving to try and keep us there.”

According to Booking.com, there are 40 Edinburgh properties available to book for August 8 at a price of £1,500 or more for a room. While some of the high prices apply to top Edinburgh hotels, others are for private flats - and even rooms in shared houses.

One listing, a three-bedroom house in Lasswade Road, in the Gracemount area of the city, is up for rent on Expedia for an eye watering £7,734 for one night on August 8. Expedia also advertises another property, which is billed as being "within walking distance" of Murrayfield Stadium, for £6,493 for the same night.

Another, a former council flat in Saughton, is advertised on Booking.com for £2,009 for the night.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has also raised prices on the day of the clash. A stay on August 8 at one of its two bedroom Gladstone's Land properties in Edinburgh’s Old Town - which usually sell for around £400 a night throughout the year and under £900 a night at other times in August - was earlier this week advertised on AirBnb for £1,976 a night. NTS has also reduced its usual two-night minimum stay to one night over the three Oasis dates.

The price for the gig dates reduced to £1,096 a night after the charity, which uses an agent and operates a “dynamic pricing” system similar to that used for some gig tickets, was contacted by The Scotsman. The model increases and decreases the price on offer depending on demand.

The Oasis gig comes in the middle of festival season in Edinburgh.

An NTS spokeswoman says: “The National Trust for Scotland works with a property agent to manage our holiday apartments at Gladstone's Land who use various third party booking sites to market and sell stays.

“These sites operate with dynamic pricing models, which allow rates to flex based on demand, local events, seasonality and local competitor pricing, and are in use by the vast majority of properties in Edinburgh and other major cities.

“The phenomenal demand caused by the festival and Oasis is driving rates to a very high level across the city and indeed to other locations across central Scotland.”

She adds: "Our Gladstone's Land apartments generate significant income annually, all of which helps our charity make improvements to the facilities and experience at the historic townhouse on the Royal Mile, as well as supporting our wider programme of conservation work at our special places across Scotland."

The Edinburgh Fringe Society last year highlighted the rising cost of accommodation during the festivals as a major barrier to people attending the event, as well as for visiting artists.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to the city during the festivals period in August, when not only the Fringe, but the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival and many other events, are taking place.

The festivals are taking place against the backdrop of a run of blockbuster concerts scheduled for Edinburgh across August. On top of the three Oasis gigs, Australian rock icons AC/DC will perform at Murrayfield Stadium on August 21.

American singer/songwriter Chappell Roan and British rock musician Sam Fender are also performing at sell-out concerts at the Royal Highland Showgrounds at Ingliston during August.

Chappell Roan has another date with Scotland. | Getty Images

Leon Thompson, executive director of UKHospitality Scotland, says: "Both the Edinburgh Fringe and the Oasis reunion have resulted in huge demand for accommodation in Edinburgh in August. We know that hotels get booked up very far in advance ahead of these notable events and this year has been no different.

"It should be recognised that these events do result in much higher operating costs for accommodation businesses, from increased staffing levels to additional security to help manage increased guest numbers."

A VisitScotland spokesperson said: “VisitScotland is committed to the responsible growth of our tourism and events industry. We work with businesses and stakeholders to help deliver the best possible experience for every visitor, encouraging them to consider the importance of providing great quality services and hospitality that offer value for money.

“However, ultimately, we have no input or control over the pricing strategy of tourism or events businesses.”

Other cities hosting Oasis, including Manchester and Birmingham, have also seen price rises for the nights of the concerts However, pressure on accommodation is not as high as in Edinburgh where the festivals are being held, which is reflected in the price of rooms.

In Manchester, a room at the YOTEL is £317 on July 11, the first night of the band’s gig run in their home, while the same room is advertised at just £108 a week earlier. Clayton Hotel in Manchester city centre is charging £153 for a room in the first weekend of July, but the cost nearly doubles to £294 for July 11.

Increased pricing also applies to the concert tickets themselves. The tour sold out shortly after it went on sale in September. However, some tickets are available on resale.

Tickets for the Murrayfield gig are on sale on Viagogo for up to £1,123 for a pair. The highest price tickets were due to be sold for when first released were £270 each for a VIP package.

An investigation by the Competitions and Markets Authority last month found while dynamic pricing was not used by platform Ticketmaster when the Oasis gigs went on sale, it may have broken consumer protection law by labelling certain seats as “platinum”, and selling them for more than two times the price of standard equivalent tickets, without explaining properly that they did not offer any additional benefits.

The Lloyds report found Oasis fans make up more than half of all reported concert ticket scams so far this year, with those affected losing £436 on average.

The biggest amount lost in a single case so far was more than £1,700, suggesting many fans are willing to pay well over face value. The average loss to scammers pretending to sell Oasis tickets is around £200 more than the average concert ticket scam loss, with more than 1,000 cases reported since fans’ scramble for tickets started last summer.

Liz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds, warns the vast majority of scam tickets are sold through social media.

She says: “The fact that so many cases start with fake listings on social media, often in violation of the platforms’ own rules, underscores the importance of these companies taking stronger action to tackle scams.

“It’s vital that consumers feel empowered to shop safely online. Buying directly from reputable, authorised retailers is the only way to guarantee you’re paying for a genuine ticket.”

Lisa Webb, a consumer law expert at consumer organisation Which?, describes the high demand for tickets as a “perfect storm for criminals”.

She adds: “If you spot any suspicious posts, you can report them to the social media platform and the National Cyber Security Centre to investigate.”

A spokeswoman for Expedia said: “Prices and availability on Expedia are set by the accommodation suppliers. Accommodation suppliers are free to monitor demand across their various distribution channels and to adjust the prices and availability they display across these distribution channels (including Expedia) at any time.

“Generally, for events such as a sports match or a concert, the rates in the relevant destination may be higher than in other periods. “