by Dominique Patton

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbnb announced Thursday a partnership with the Tour de France until 2027 to develop its rental activity in French rural areas, after the successful experience of the Paris Olympic Games.

The group provides for a slowdown in demand on the American market, the world’s leading market, due to the negative impact of Donald Trump’s commercial policy on consumer morale.

The second market, France, where local residents represent around 70% of reservations, knows “very healthy” growth, perhaps even faster than that of the United States, said the co-founder and the general manager of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, in an interview with Reuters.

As part of the contract with the Tour de France, Airbnb will promote rentals along the 3,300 kilometers of the route, as well as related experiences, such as hikes with old cyclists, as part of a new global strategy aimed at expanding its offer.

“To mark the final stage of the 2025 edition, (the British) Mark Cavendish, winner of 35 stages of the Tour, will offer an exclusive and free experience at the Grand Palais”, according to an Airbnb press release.

The choice of this partnership follows the 700,000 reservations recorded by the platform during the four weeks of the Olympic Games in 2024, an assessment that exceeded all expectations.

The group maintained the approximately 120,000 announcements identified last year in the French capital, but claims to be able to do better in the less populated areas of the country, especially on the sidelines of many stages of the Tour de France.

This initiative comes while certain cities, such as Biarritz in the southwest of France, restrict real estate advertisements in response to the outbreak of real estate prices.

“When airbnb are subject to restrictions in a region, it has an impact on activity. Obviously, growth slows down. And then, the other consequence … is that prices generally increase, because many people try to stay in the few accommodation or available hotels,” said Brian Chesky.

In Spain, Airbnb appealed a government decision to withdraw more than 65,000 vacation rentals that would have broken the regulations, in a context of housing crisis.

Airbnb said he believed that the Spanish executive did not have the power to rule on short -term rentals.

Other partnerships with brands could follow the agreement concluded with the Tour de France, especially in the field of luxury experiences, said Brian Chesky.

“Wealthy people like to spend their money on experiences rather than material goods,” he said.

For the moment, the company continues to develop its new services and receives “thousands and thousands” of applications per week of people wishing to sell a service on the platform.

Brian Chesky, who enlisted a chef for his airbnb in Paris, is one of the people who test this new offer, but he considers that it will take time to develop it.

(Report Dominique Patton, Mara Vîlcu for the )

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