Overseas football fans at Qatar World Cup feel currency pain
FOOTBALL fans who travelled to Qatar knew the World Cup experience would not come cheap – but the resilience of the Gulf nation’s currency is making the trip particularly painful for travellers from countries such as South Korea, Japan and England.
Everything from hotel bills to the price of a can of Coca-Cola at the stadiums are pinching tourists, who in many instances are already dealing with sky-high inflation in their home countries.
The Qatari riyal is pegged to the US dollar, which has roiled markets this year with its strength. A gauge of global currency volatility is set for its highest annual average since 2016, thanks in part to aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and the Russia-led war in Ukraine.
The riyal has strengthened almost 9 per cent against the South Korean won this year, which was hit by weakening exports and local housing market strains. It is up almost 17 per cent against the yen, due to Japan’s monetary policy divergence with the US; and nearly 10 per cent versus the pound, thanks to this year’s UK political crises.
Japan, South Korea and England all made it through to the knockout stage of the tournament, with the two Asian nations losing their Round of 16 matches to Croatia and Brazil respectively.
“Preparing for the World Cup trip has been both physically and financially burdensome,” said Choung Jong-chan, a 32-year-old electronic goods salesperson from South Korea, who started preparing for his trip a year ago.
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He recalled the process as a series of sleepless nights. Tickets were released little by little, and many fans were unsatisfied with the seats they were allocated. He ended up reselling his tickets for better seats, even though that meant higher ticket fees due to a stronger US dollar and paying a 5 per cent commission for using the official resale platform.
“By then, I already had two million won (S$2,055) on my credit card,” Choung said.
Sticker shock
Alcohol is heavily restricted in Qatar but visitors are able to purchase a bottle of Budweiser at designated areas for around 50 riyals (S$18), nearly 10 times the price of the same product in a convenience store in South Korea.
For Japanese tourists more used to a deflationary environment, the sticker prices at World Cup venues are a particular shock. The yen hit a three-decade low against the US dollar in October.
“A small bottle of water at the venue costs about 400 yen (S$4), and Coca-Cola is around 600 yen. This is a big burden.” said Kazunori Takishima, a 46-year-old real estate business owner in Tokyo. He was expecting to pay 25-30 yen per riyal during his trip, but instead has faced a rate of 35-40 per riyal instead.
Qatar has placed measures to mitigate rising costs, banning any over-the-counter ticket reselling and managing accommodation costs through an official website.
Public transportation and SIM cards for Internet connection are free for visitors holding the Hayya card, a fan ID for World Cup ticket holders. Still, such efforts were not enough to offset the force of inflation and strong US dollar.
“Some hotels settle payments six days prior to your stay, so even if you booked your stay months ago, you would have to pay a bigger cost now because of higher exchange rates,” said Choung.
To prevent the cost of tickets ballooning upwards in pound terms, Aminoor Rashid, a 40-year-old tax authority employee from the UK, asked his Doha-based friend to buy them on his behalf in July. At that point the British pound had fallen 12 per cent against the riyal.
“I was concerned because the pound sterling depreciated very heavily against the dollar,” said Rashid, who was attending his first World Cup in person. “I didn’t overspend, I was lucky because I stayed with a friend and the main cost is accommodation.”
Early reservations
Im Sung-min, a 29-year-old mobile accessories salesman from South Korea, said while he was lucky he made most of his reservations before the US dollar soared, he was still planning to bring food and supplies to the games “in case I won’t be able to afford them on the ground”.
Of course, easing the pain to fans’ pockets is the thrill of being at the tournament.
“I wouldn’t miss what could be the last World Cup for stars Son Heung-min, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo,” said Choung. BLOOMBERG
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