German hotels pass one-million threshold for World Cup

BERLIN, Apr 25 (Reuters) One million hotel stays have been booked for the World Cup by soccer fans from 72 countries, Germany's organising committee said today.

Organising committee vice president Horst R. Schmidt said that its 600 partner hotels across Germany have reported more than 50 percent of their available capacity has been sold for the June 9 to July 9 tournament.

''The bookings process has been extremely positive and is running ahead of expectations,'' Schmidt said in a statement.

He said the average price of the rooms is 186 euros (230.3 dollars) per night, just below the 190-euro target forecast three years ago.

''We have succeeded in preventing price increases,'' he added.

Germany is expecting a total of three million fans for the tournament, including one million foreign visitors.

Reuters PM GC1805