Short-Term Rental Platforms Are Seeing a Paris Olympics Spike

Hotel booking sites have capitalized on Olympics demand by boosting prices for stays during the Games. But hotels aren’t alone in seizing this opportunity.

The Olympics are slated to take place July 26 through August 11. Short-term rental bookings in Paris are up 46% during this period compared with the two weeks prior, according to AirDNA. The suburbs are really feeling the Olympics heat, with bookings up 112%.

“As Paris prepares to host a major global sporting event this summer, it’s one of the top searched Vrbo destinations for travelers from around the world,” a Vrbo spokesperson told Skift.

Skift heard from some leaders in short-term rentals to learn the big takeaways ahead of this summer’s Olympics.

Listings and rates were on the rise

Germany-based vacation rental company HomeToGo noted the median rate for stays in Paris with a check-in date during the Olympics was $619. That’s 116% higher than the month before. 

HomeToGo had a 74% year-on-year increase in searches for Paris during the Games.

Olympics bookings are over five times higher than they were at the same time last year, according to an Airbnb shareholder letter. The company also reported around 40% more active listings in the first quarter of the year compared to last year. With AirDNA’s aggregated data, listings had a 45% year-over-year increase in April.

Individual hosts are getting in on the action.

“Paris, France in general — there’s not a lot of big property managers, property aggregators. It’s one of the countries that is most dominated by individual hosts, and we’re seeing that in Paris this summer, as well,” said AirDNA Chief Economist Jamie Lane.

Prices are already starting to drop

Despite some people still on the hunt for housing, Lane said prices are already starting to cool down. According to AirDNA, prices started to dip in March and April.

“We are already starting to see the available rates start to decrease as we get close to the event,” he said. “People are starting to get worried that their units aren’t booked, so, as we get closer, we expect rates to continue to drop.”

Look out for Americans and Olympians’ families

Olympians’ biggest cheerleaders — their friends and families — could still be looking for accommodations and may turn to short-term rentals.

“A lot of the athletes are still just qualifying for the Olympics, and a lot of the demand comes from their friends and family,” Lane said. “So we’re just getting now to that period where we should start to see a significant uptick in bookings.”

A recent HomeToGo survey found 43% of Americans will take a vacation related to a sporting event, like the Olympics, this summer. While there was an increase in search interest across the board for Paris during the Olympics, Americans were particularly keen. Their searches went up by 122%.