On the “Mums in the 6” Facebook page, where “tips and tips” between “moms” from 6e district of Paris, this ad has just been posted: “My husband proposes to manage your apartments for rental during the 2024 Olympics period.” A link refers to a new concierge service, created for the occasion.
Because, beyond Airbnb and the “hosts” offering their apartment on a platform, the Olympic (OG) and Paralympic Games in Paris will benefit the entire ecosystem that has developed around this new mode of tourism. homestay. And first of all, to concierge services, these intermediaries responsible for creating the ad, selecting travellers, managing the reception and departure of guests, the cleaning service, renting linen from a service provider, against a commission of some 20%. All say they have been contacted in recent months by new owners wishing to rent their accommodation.
The WeHost concierge service, which puts its customers’ apartments online only on the Airbnb platform, is currently testing the market. “We advise those who want to start opening their calendar to display a price 300% or 400% above the base price for the moment, but we will refine during the spring, for the moment everyone is a little in the blur “recognizes Romain Bellet, founder of WeHost.
“Vary prices according to demand”
The strategies differ according to the actors: the GuestReady concierge service, oriented upscale, “does not want to take the risk of reserving all the accommodations today, in case prices increase”declares its managing director, Raphaël Oren, who calls himself “guaranteed to have a very good filling rate”.
Its competitor Welkeys, on the other hand, “advise to open reservations now to benefit from the most important ratessays Florian Bessou, commercial director. Our job is to vary prices according to demand, so if it is less strong than expected, we may have to lower prices..
The other big challenge for concierge services will be logistics. “We are going to have a problem with cleaning service providers, when it is already not easy to recruit today, and also with a stock of linen, which will have to be inflated”, emphasizes Romain Bellet, who currently works with eight cleaning companies in Paris. WeHost hopes to quadruple its turnover in 2024, thanks to the Olympics.
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