Touchy subject: $4000 rooms putting Wagga's major events at risk

Organisers of the state junior touch carnival said on Monday the future of the event could be in doubt unless the city addresses its short term accommodation issues as prices soar and vacancies plummet.

The three-day carnival, which begins on February 16, has been held in Wagga for the last three years, and is locked in until 2026.

As of Monday, the only accommodation available for a family of four is more than $4000 for two nights, according to listings on Booking.com and Airbnb. The nearest accommodation available for under $600 is over an hour away in Tumut.

NSW Touch Association, expect the event to bring up to 12,000 people to the city for the weekend, adding $3 million to the local economy.

Accommodation has been an issue since the first year the touch carnival was hosted locally, and was flagged as a serious problem last year, when the event's future in Wagga was in doubt.

NSW Touch Association president Dean Russell said Wagga was a near perfect location for the event, except this one small issue.

"It's a sporting town. It always has been, and probably always will be. The facilities at Jubilee are fantastic," he said.

"We've built a really strong relationship with council, and they work with us strongly to present the event in the best possible format.

"The only real negative, and it's one we've faced on numerous occasions ... is the accommodation."

Short term accommodation supply has been a running issue since the carnival first touched down in Wagga.

The absolute number of rooms available is a problem for everyone, but the lack of affordable rooms presents a specific challenge to the carnival.

Mr Russell takes pride in the fact touch football is an affordable and accessible sport. He is concerned the price of accommodation could make pathways to higher grades of play unaffordable for some players.

He said he understood why some providers raised their prices at peak times, but accommodation providers should think about what this could cost the community.

"We do have some accommodation providers who've had a history of price gouging. We've opened an honest conversation with council about it, so they're aware and doing what they can to mitigate it," Mr Russell said.

"We'd hate to see participants and their families not able to attend the event because they're not able to afford the accommodation.

"It's not an expensive sport to participate in ... but I'm worried this may place pressures on the representative pathways."

Junee Tourist Park is 40 minutes away from the centre of the action at Jubilee Park in Bourkelands but despite this, they've been booked for the carnival for 11 months.

General manager Rodger Galvin said he thought people had become aware of the shortage in the area and wanted to secure somewhere to stay well in advance.

He said providers that were drastically upping their prices were doing their customers and community a disservice.

"People who book in tend to book again for the next year, a year in advance," he said.

"The manager at the Junee Hotel last week was saying he wasn't booked out - he still had 10 rooms. As soon as word got out, they went like that.

"Don't price gouge - it's not worth it. What you pick up today, you might lose tomorrow .... they'll spread the word to another 10 people so you lose again."

Councillors voted earlier this year to have a report published on the status of short stay accommodation, particularly looking at short term accommodation in private homes.

Short stay providers using platforms like AirBnB avoided additional fees proposed by councillors in October when the report was released.

Council's director of regional activation John Sidgwick said in the report Wagga had 262 AirBnBs total.

While the focus of this report was the effect of AirBnB style accommodation on the rental market, it has raised the awareness of short stay accommodation among council