Since its arrival in 2010 in France, Airbnb has only grown. In less than 10 years, the company has established itself in no less than 190 countries. How to explain this phenomenon?
For the record
The San Francisco founders of Airbnb, Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, had the idea of renting out a small unused room in their apartment as a “Bed & Breakfast” to make ends meet. A conference on design was taking place near their home: participants were looking for cheaper accommodation. They rented out airbeds to their guests and launched “Airbed and Breakfast”, which later became “Airbnb”.
Launched in 2008, this start-up is surfing on the wave of the collaborative economy. It allows you to rent a room, an apartment, a house or even a private island for a short period of time! You find yourself in a typical home. A Haussmannian apartment with parquet floors and moldings in Paris, a stall in Bordeaux, in a traboule in Lyon, or a house on the beach in Cannes… Its model allows tourists to save money and renters to make some pocket money.
National market
France has become the second largest market behind the United States with an economic impact of 10.8 billion euros in 2019 (survey conducted by Airbnb). Emmanuel Marill, director of the platform in France, is pleased with this success.
Airbnb counts 8.5 billion traveler arrivals in France with over 300,000 hosts. They earn about 2100€ per year for their main residence thanks to this short-term rental service.
A good opportunity to pay off their vacation tickets!
In 2019, Paris gathered the majority of Airbnb ads: 43%.
However, for the past year and a half and now with the pandemic, the Airbnb platform has strengthened its presence in the French countryside. The urban environment was Airbnb’s trademark, but the rural area has seen its success since this summer with 85% of travelers in the countryside rather than in the city.
Provincial towns are becoming more and more popular with foreign and French tourists this year. The San Francisco-based platform therefore still has a very bright future ahead of it.