Eurovision 2023: hotel prices soar as Liverpool named host city for the Eurovision Song Contest

Liverpool has been celebrating the news that it will host Eurovision in May next year.

Announced by Graham Norton on BBC’s The One Show, Liverpool was named as the host city, beating Glasgow in the final leg.

Hosting on behalf of this year’s winners, Ukraine, the UK was chosen to host the popular song contest after Sam Ryder came second with his hit, Spaceman.

The event is expected to give a powerful boost to Liverpool’s economy, and invite people from around the world to experience the vast culture the city has to offer.

With the final taking place at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena on May 13, hotels across Liverpool and surrounding areas began to sell out just minutes after the announcement on Friday evening.

At 11pm on Friday, Le Maitre Guest House in Southport announced they were fully booked for Eurovision weekend, despite being outside of Liverpool.

On Saturday morning, Booking.com was almost fully booked for May 13 and 14, however the remaining hotels have received backlash after cancelling bookings and hiking prices.

One company is charging £199 for a weekend in April 2023, but for Eurovision weekend the cost is £2,580, for the one bed apartment in the city centre.

Many disappointed visitors shared their anger on Twitter, after finding their pre-booked hotels cancelled.

However, it is expected that further accomodation options will be announced later this week.

How is Eurovision being funded and how can I get tickets?

The song contest will be paid for by local and national government funding, as well as the BBC. More than 160 million people are expected to tune in to watch the final.

Ticket sales haven’t been announed as of yet, however, it is expected that details of how to grab tickets will be announced in the coming weeks.