Hotels for the Champions League final in Cardiff "sold out months ago," according to the BBC. Juventus will "take on" Real Madrid on June 3 and the city is expecting 170,000 visitors. Cardiff's 4,000 hotel rooms are a "fraction of those in previous host cities" Paris (76,000) and Berlin (135,000). Those "unable to secure bookings" are "expected to look to alternatives such as tents or lodge with local residents." There is a "temporary campsite for about 5,000 supporters" at Pontcanna Fields which features 1,500 tents and will be in place from May 22-June 5. The lowest-priced two-person tent at the site starts at £300 ($387.63) for the night of the final, "illustrating the cost for fans" traveling to the event. Local residents have also "tried to cash in" and ads on websites such as Gumtree and Airbnb have some "putting their homes up" for between £80 ($103.37) and £2,000 ($2,584.20). Katarzyna Minor, a lecturer in hospitality at Cardiff Metropolitan University, said, "This is how the whole idea of Airbnb came about in the first place." She added, "You're not just dealing with the hotels' capacity in these cities, but the capacity of all these types of accommodation. Because of that I would be surprised if any new big developments would be happening in Cardiff" (BBC, 5/16).
