About 20,000 Lions supporters are expected to travel to New Zealand for the tour. Photo / Getty Images
About 20,000 Lions supporters are expected to travel to New Zealand for the tour. Photo / Getty Images
Rugby fans could face accommodation and transport nightmares for the British and Irish Lions' tour of New Zealand, with options close to selling out six months before a ball has even been kicked.
Hotel rooms are already in short supply across Auckland, Wellington and Rotorua for the Lions' games againstthe All Blacks and Maori All Blacks.
According to online booking sites, only 5 per cent of Auckland CBD's hotel rooms are still available for the first and third All Blacks-Lions tests on June 24 and July 8.
And rooms in Rotorua are also in short supply, with 90 per cent of the area booked up for the June 17 match between the Maori All Blacks and the Lions.
In an interview with Newstalk ZB's Tony Veitch, a pair of Lions fans said finding Kiwi accommodation for the tour was "definitely expensive" and many supporters are having to call in favours.
"Pretty average accommodation in Wellington is at $600 a night for the second test match. It's definitely expensive," Lions fan Daniel said.
"We're planning our route now and are definitely having to make the most of people we know around the country and see whose driveways we can fit two campervans in.
"We've managed to get some campsite accommodation in Wellington and we've got friends in Auckland, but we're currently planning the route between Wellington and Auckland and figuring out where in Napier we can stay."
Hospitality New Zealand says fans need to get in and book their accommodation options quickly, predicting campervan operators, campgrounds and private operators - such as the 16,000 Airbnb hosts in New Zealand - will help fill the gap.
"This sort of booking pattern isn't surprising particularly for a major event and particularly around significant games," a Hospitality NZ spokeswoman said.
"There is a range of accommodation options in New Zealand from five-star hotels to motels, backpackers, luxury lodges and holiday parks. There are also options like Airbnb and organisations such as BookaBach and Bachcare which open up further accommodation options.
"Don't leave it to the last minute to start looking for accommodation, plan ahead and get this sorted in advance."
Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development (ATEED) says the city has the infrastructure to cope, but also urged fans not to wait until the last minute.
"Auckland is experienced in supporting the demands of major international events and has hosted several World Cup sports events, successfully accommodating those ticket holders," Steve Armitage, ATEED general manager said.
Auckland's Hilton Hotel is already booked up for next year's tour of the British and Irish Lions. Photo / Doug Sherring
"We have also identified that a significant number of visitors will be using campervans during their stay and we are developing short term campervan parks to help support these visitors, just as we did during the Rugby World Cup."
Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA) said it was also confident the city would cope, with a "hotel stock increase by around 20 per cent since the last Lions tour [in 2005]" and it suggested Kiwi fans could always turn to friends and family for help with accommodation.
"For New Zealanders who are thinking of coming to Wellington for the matches but haven't yet finalised their plans, we'd recommend they look at their options for staying with friends and relatives, as the demand for commercial accommodation is naturally at a peak," Warrick Dent, WREDA general manager said.
For those travelling to matches from out of town, they are also advised to book their movements early to avoid being stuck.
Air New Zealand says it is seeing "significant demand" for flights and is watching to see whether it will need to add extra flights to cope with demand.
"While seats are still available for our scheduled services around the Lions, we have seen significant demand for large group bookings flying on domestic charter services," an Air NZ spokeswoman said.
"We closely monitor demand around major events and will typically add further capacity if we see stronger than anticipated demand. While it's still early days, we are committed to providing as many seats as possible to help customers see their favourite teams play."
About 20,000 Lions supporters are expected to travel to New Zealand for this year's much-anticipated tour.
Demand for tickets has well out-stripped supply, with a ballot system being used to allocate some lucky ticket winners in New Zealand. The ballot was drawn in mid-November.
