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And it’s not great!
Openly stating that they know numbers are going to be down even further than last year. Doesn’t say by how many and wouldn’t expect him to given a few thousand may decide on the day.
But the last sentence in particular tells me a lot. “Those of you watching from afar” that sounds like a direct line to those watching on from Spain! Of which I’m going to be one for the first time.
He specifically names the cost and customer experience as other tangible reasons for the decline in attendance. But is the elephant in the room the ever increasing numbers of odds on shots?
This 4/5 nonsense for any Mullins runner in the novices for winning weak Irish races has got to stop!
Tizz, I was looking to go on Thursday as a last minuite booking this year (already set for tuesday inc car parking), its not possible to buy a car park ticket now, but there is park and ride available Junction 11 on the M5.
Thats the other side of Cheltenham for me, so its a no go now…
I believe I read somewhere around 40-50k sold for Tuesday.
Transport needs to be improved drastically in and out, many leave early to avoid the car park madness.
Enjoy your Cheltmas in Spain.I don’t drive, so would have to go by train. A day return from Paddington is £154 – absolute madness.
I know of a really good car park next to the track: I assume it’s still going ( we haven’t been for a few years). I don’t think you can book, though, you have to get there really early which we used to do.
There’s not a lot that the racecourse can do about the cost of getting to the races.
They need to concentrate on factors they can affect. Or at least influence. It doesn’t help when the head of the Cheltenham chamber of commerce insist that hoteliers aren’t taking the mickey!
I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like to be there to see the Tuesday or the Friday this year. But the cost of doing so is prohibitive even if you don’t stay in a hotel. Attending a big football match/rugby game/other big sporting event presents its own challenge for a number of reasons. They could be held abroad, tickets may have sold out or in the case of 3pm Saturday kick offs they aren’t televised.
Cheltenham doesn’t have any of those restrictions. You could sit at home in your kecks, have a great view of the racing and stay warm and dry for the entirety of the event and you’re missing out on nothing really.
They need to start upping their game. And fast.
Moehat, I will see on Tuesday, there used to be a few ”fields” doing parking by the entrance. Thanks for reminding me.
As for a train Gald..did it once never again!!I’ll pm you with the details of the one we went to. A lot of the bookies etc used it, too. Not only that but there was a loo ( I used to dread having to queue for ages to get onto the course!) and they sold food and drinks later on too. I think I would have happily spent the day there to be honest! And there wasn’t the problem of having to queue to leave the car park later on.
The letter does at least recognise that the cost of transport and accommodation is a factor, along with the cost of a pint and something to eat. But will that result in any reduction in cost? I would have thought it unlikely.
It simply isn’t worth paying a lot of money to watch an increasing amount of odds on chances on a racecourse which (while beautiful to look at) is not very spectator friendly. The horses feel like they are miles away sometimes. The Mildmay course at Aintree is far better for spectators.
And then you have to queue everywhere, with very few places to sit down. It just isn’t a pleasant experience, before having to get a train home full of loud, boorish drunks.
I also think the Irish domination is a factor. I know someone will reply “punters don’t care where the winner is trained as long as they have backed it.” But as I said on the Gold Cup thread, the leading British challenger is now The Real Whacker. It seems to sum up that British National Hunt racing is now third rate.
Cheltenham and the local hotels etc only have themselves to blame. They thought they could keep charging people the earth but customers are voting with their feet and their wallets.
It makes far more sense to watch on television. Much cheaper, no travelling, no queues and a better view of the racing.
As I have said before, Aintree on the Thursday offers much better value. Four Grade 1s, a race over the National fences and a top handicap for less than £40 if you buy a basic ticket. No long queues and better viewing (and no long or expensive travelling, for me anyway).
“As for a train Gald..did it once never again!!”
Landafar, I first attended the festival in 1991. The return fare from Paddington was £22. Using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, that would equate to £49.60 today. This isn’t the politics thread, but privatisation has a lot to answer for.
As for CAS’ “boorish drunks”, antisocial behaviour has become far more commonplace over the years. You would usually get the odd inebriated racegoer on the train home, but never whole parties of them. Again, this isn’t the place to discuss politics but such behaviour is symptomatic of the individualistic “me first” neoliberal mindset which sadly dominates these days.
CAS: I agree largely with what you said. I would imagine most people attending the festival have a good interest in racing. It’s not Ascot.
However. Offering up my own take on things. I have a RTV sub. But aside from the grade ones I don’t watch a minutes Irish racing.
Therefore I’m simply not as invested in those horses or have a decent enough grasp of the form. I’ll be keeping Joseph O Brien’s horses in the handicaps onside this week but apart from that I couldn’t really tell you a single thing about Irish racing.
That has to be having a knock on effect. Having said that. I can get involved and enjoy a day at uttoxeter/southwell/warwick/stratford full of class 4 and 5 if it’s competitive and fields of 10+. The issues facing Cheltenham are commonplace across racing. It’s just these places cost a tenner to get in, it’s easy to get served/a seat/watch the racing from a good viewpoint/have a beer at your leisure should you wish to and pie and peas costs £7 not £20.
Glad.
0932 from Paddington to Cheltenham and any train back is normally only £94.90.
You also can buy a day return to Didcot Parkway, a day return Didcot Parkway to Swindon and a third one Swindon to Cheltenham and make it £65- you stay on the same direct trains !!!
Also 33% off for groups of 3 or more on all of the above.
I assume you just take 1/2 when you can get 4/6 by making an effort………
A fiend of mine has three Club tickets for Friday- they can’t give them away at the moment….
Even a publican is coming out against their own industry.
“‘Most have tried to milk the festival for everything it’s worth’ says local proprietor on Cheltenham hotel pricing
Cheltenham: hotel prices are on the rise for the festival
Hotel prices are on the rise for Cheltenham Festival racegoers
A proprietor of two pubs in the Cotswolds has warned that inflated hotel and ticket prices at the Cheltenham Festival are threatening to “burst the bubble” which surrounds the biggest jumps meeting of the year.Nathan Eades of The Halfway at Kineton and the Horse & Groom at Bourton on the Hill was speaking after being “horrified” by the the comments of Cheltenham chamber of commerce representative Lindsey Holland, who claimed in Monday’s Racing Post that festival week in the local area painted a “rosy picture” and that hotels “aren’t being incredibly greedy” in the their pricing policy.
Eades views things very differently and believes most operators have been trying to “milk the festival for everything it is worth” in recent years.
“I was horrified after reading Lindsey Holland’s quotes in the Racing Post,” said Eades. “I’m genuinely not sure how long it will be until the bubble really bursts.
“From our experience in hospitality, the best part of the Cheltenham Festival is when racing fans, casual racegoers and locals all come together to celebrate this incredible sport at the racecourse, in the town centre and, importantly for me and a lot of others, in the rural villages and towns that surround Cheltenham.”
Defending the soaring price of accommodation in and around Cheltenham during festival week, Holland suggested local hotels were not pushing their prices up simply because they could and instead are working to a winning “formula” but the reality is very different as far as Eades and the thousands of racegoers being asked to pay inflated prices are concerned.
“In recent years most operators have tried to milk the festival for everything it’s worth,” he said. “The hospitality industry is going through a tough time currently and has struggled since Covid. While we completely understand the temptation to try and make a few extra quid during the festival, this ‘formula’ is one that is a quick fix and not a lasting remedy.
“We have to remember times are also very hard for the average person, and to price them out is very unfair. The breaking point will come. It probably already has for some as they are opting for alternative options away from the racecourse and, ultimately, Cheltenham and the surrounding areas.”
Local proprietor Nathan Eades with jockey Tom Bellamy
Local proprietor Nathan Eades (left) with jockey Tom Bellamy
Eades said all rooms and the restaurant at his two pubs will be full during next week’s festival but does not see that as a licence to start hiking up prices.“We have two pubs in the North Cotswolds and have full rooms and full restaurants because we offer a good product at the same price that our customers would get at any other time of year,” he added.
“Our business model isn’t, shouldn’t be, nor would I allow it to be, one that increases upon perceived demand that is called a ‘formula’. A solid business model is one that has consistency in product, in opening hours and above all else cost. These horrific price hikes have a greater effect on the local economy.”
As well as being a local proprietor, Eades has shares in two horses trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and is a sponsor at Stratford and of jockey Tom Bellamy, and his views come from the standpoint of a racing fan as much as they do a business owner.
He said: “We feel that everyone has lost touch with what a racing festival is meant to be. Racing has always been perceived to be accessible to the masses. I firmly believe if everyone priced it sensibly, everyone would benefit and footfall would naturally increase.
“We expect there to be between 40,000-50,000 on the Wednesday and Thursday which is an achievement in itself, but long gone are the days when punters pile back in their thousands to racing pubs around the Cotswolds like The Plough at Ford or The Hollow Bottom in Guiting Power.”
He added: “Perhaps we could all get around a table and find a solution that works for everyone, instead of one person talking on behalf of the Cheltenham chamber of commerce and the whole local hospitality industry.”
What is hotel availability like in Cheltenham for Tuesday?
Despite concerns raised about the prices of hotels in and around Cheltenham for next week’s festival, there is limited availability for rooms on the opening day of the fixture.Many hotels listed with online travel agents were showing limited availability on Thursday for the first day of the Cheltenham Festival next Tuesday. Occupancy levels were confirmed when the hotels were contacted by the Racing Post.
According to booking.com, 92 per cent of the hotels listed within two miles of Cheltenham town centre did not have rooms available on Tuesday. This increased to 95 per cent when more than two rooms were requested.
No rooms were available at the three-star Holiday Inn Express in central Cheltenham. The Ramada Inn, The Queens Hotel and The George each had one deluxe room available costing £449, £934 and £650 respectively for the night. 38 The Park and The Wheatsheaf, which are part of the same group as The George, had no availability.
Three suites, each priced at £779 for a one-night stay on Tuesday, at The Double Tree by Hilton were the only rooms available.
Multiple rooms can be booked at the Hotel du Vin and Malmaison in central Cheltenham on Tuesday. Accommodation for ten people at the Hotel du Vin can be booked for a total of £3,331, while the same number of guests can stay at the Malmaison for £3,555.
At the Charlton Boutique Hotel two miles from Cheltenham, rooms for ten people are bookable on Tuesday night for a combined cost of £2,148.”
Hotels inflating their prices due to local events is nothing new and not unique to Cheltenham. I used to work all over the country and hotel room prices and availability were affected by local events such as air shows, university graduations and sporting events etc.. If I was looking for a room and there was limited availability and inflated prices I knew something local was happening and to be honest I don’t blame them you play to your market.
The more I know the less I understand.
I think most people are OK with paying a bit more than normal. But there is a point when it becomes extortionate and blatant profiteering. No one likes being ripped off.
Ticket prices are not out of line with other major sporting events but all the other costs are too much now for many people. 4 days is now a huge expense.
“CAS: I agree largely with what you said. I would imagine most people attending the festival have a good interest in racing. It’s not Ascot.”
Agree TC – I believe most of the crowd are there for the racing but there will be some people there because it is a place to be seen.
On the Irish domination: last year it was remarked that some of the receptions received by winners were a bit muted. I think the more casual racegoers who maybe only watch racing on a Saturday and don’t follow the Irish scene must find it quite difficult to cheer and clap for yet another Mullins winner.
I think a lot of people prefer smaller meetings now. Even though the quality of the racing is not as good, at least it is a pleasant day out and good value. I was at Ludlow last month and would much rather go there than anywhere near the festival.
“Ticket prices are not out of line with other major sporting events”
A common refrain in these discussions, but one which doesn’t really bear scrutiny. If I buy a ticket to the football or rugby (or a concert, etc), I have a guaranteed seat. I’m not paying to stand in a general crowd of people.
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