Nothing but skyrocketing prices for the Olympic Paris. At least on the front of the accommodation, the Games that the French capital has been waiting for for exactly a century and which it will host from July 26th to August 11th, will not have stratospheric costs at all. Indeed, i beds they will be practically on sale compared to expectations and initial requests, ending up costing little more than in a normal high season period. For example, as for any fashion week, the transalpine newspaper hypothesizes Le Monde.
The reason is easy to say: it is there market law, beauty. With the advent of platforms like Airbnb, the supply of accommodation in the French capital, especially during the Olympic period, has literally exploded, to the point of far exceeding demand: in a normal period the apartments offered by Airbnb alone are 65,000, while in a few weeks they will more than double to 145,000. According to some experts consulted by Le Monde, prices have thus fallen to 1.5 times the normal ones for the period, compared to the 2.5 times to which they had risen until September-October 2023, when the first rush of bookings was completed , in particular from Asia and the USA. Afterwards, however, demand slowed down significantly, to the point that to date Airbnb has only filled 25% of the accommodations in the Ville Lumiere.
“From that moment – he commented Romain Bellet, co-founder of another short-term rental platform, WeHost – prices have done nothing but decrease, a little every day.” To give an example, a two-room apartment in a not too central area of Paris normally costs between 60 and 100 euros per night, and at this rate during the Olympic event it will cost “only” between 100 and 150 euros, not so much more than the norm, considering that it is a huge event highly anticipated by the whole country, starting with President Emmanuel Macron who has made it a propaganda banner.
Now platforms and hoteliers expect a surge in bookings in the last weeks before the Games, with tourists waiting until the last minute to take advantage of the lower prices, but it is not certain that it will go like this. Indeed, the French press is starting to question the actual need to find accommodation in Paris during the Olympics, given that ultimately a large majority (70%) of the 16 million expected spectators will arrive from France itself and therefore, depending on when writes Le Monde, “it could be hosted by friends and relatives”. Not to mention that around fifteen million French people already live in the metropolitan area of the capital alone.
In short, among many possible flops in the organization of the French Olympics, from the risk of attacks on the Seine which a few weeks before the start is not yet considered suitable for swimming for the cross-country swimming competitions, there is also the accommodation issue. Many apartments will remain empty and this will not have been a great deal for the hospitality market.
