Monday, January 24, 2011

Rome rip-off for Saintly Pope

As more than two million people prepare to descend on Rome for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, hotels rates and airfares have skyrocketed with flights almost tripling in just 48 hours.

Hoteliers and airline bosses buoyed by memories of four million people at the Pontiff's funeral in 2005 look set to chase the quick buck and cash in on pilgrims for the May 1 event. 

However, leading Irish pilgrim operator Joe Walsh Tours (JWT) has vowed to keep fares to a minimum to allow as many Irish pilgrims as possible to travel to Rome for the historic occasion.

Meanwhile, city authorities in Rome are considering appealing to the people of Rome to open up spare room in their homes to pilgrims in a bid to provide lodgings for the huge crowds.

A return flight to Rome for the ceremony on Friday of last week - just minutes after the formal announcement - was selling at just over €100 on the Aer Lingus website; just hours later the same flight was more than €290.

On Ryanair, flight prices more than doubled after the announcement from €82 for an April 30 to May 2 return flight from Rome to €172.

Speaking to The Irish Catholic this week, David Walsh of JWT vowed to keep costs down. 

''We had an inkling this was coming up and that allowed us to bloc-book a lot of flights and hotel rooms around this time to maximise value for pilgrims,'' he said.

Mr Walsh said that JWT was working with their usual contract-partners in Italy on the beatification: ''This has allowed us to keep prices close to normal,'' he said.

The Vatican has taken the unprecedented step of not issuing tickets for the Beatification Mass - which will be presided over by Pope Benedict XVI - and pilgrims are expected to be accommodated by large screens erected all around the city of Rome.

The Grand Hotel de la Minerve, where President Mary McAleese stayed for the funeral of Pope John Paul II, was offering rooms at €215 per night around May 1 before the beatification announcement, just hours later the same room was going for €280.

A spokesman for the city of Rome said officials were working on advanced plans to streamline the millions of pilgrims who would arrive to ensure a smooth ceremony. 

He also said the authorities would soon decide if they would give the go-ahead for an appeal to the families of Rome to open their homes to visitors.

SIC: IC/IE