Airbnb CEO Urges Parisians to Put Homes up for Rent for Olympics

 Residential apartment buildings are seen near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, September 26, 2023. (Reuters)
Residential apartment buildings are seen near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, September 26, 2023. (Reuters)
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Airbnb CEO Urges Parisians to Put Homes up for Rent for Olympics

 Residential apartment buildings are seen near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, September 26, 2023. (Reuters)
Residential apartment buildings are seen near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, September 26, 2023. (Reuters)

Airbnb is expecting to host up to half a million people in Paris during the 2024 Olympics and is urging more Parisians to put their homes up for rent, Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky said on Tuesday.

The more listings there are, the more prices will be contained, Chesky told Reuters, amid fears that prices could rocket and accommodation for the Games next August could become unaffordable for some.

"A lot of people need housing. They don't have enough hotel rooms here in Paris to accommodate everyone," Chesky said.

Paris' tourism office expects some 16 million people to visit the wider Paris region for the Olympics and Paralympics.

"Surveys suggest as many as 20% of people in Paris are interested in hosting. If they put their (homes) on Airbnb and there is enough housing, prices will stay within reason," Chesky said.

"If not enough people put their homes on Airbnb and people don't have enough ... hotels and they can't build more hotels, that's going to increase prices."

Airbnb, which became an Olympic partner in 2019, is dealing with pushback from local authorities across the world amid competition between short-stay holiday rentals and longer term rentals for residents.

Chesky said it would be made clear to hosts that the listings with the best value for money would be given priority for search results.

"So while hotel prices are going up, I will make sure that Airbnb is more affordable than hotels for the equivalent amount of space when people are travelling for Paris for the Olympics. I think we can do that," he said.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.