Cannes is in festival mode, the city on the French Riviera is hosting the International Film Festival for the 72nd time - and not only filmmakers are looking forward to a good deal.
With 40,000 accredited industry representatives and journalists, the number of residents of Cannes triples almost overnight. In twelve days, the hotels near the Festival Palace make about one-sixth of their annual turnover, as the restaurant association Umih has calculated. According to the city administration, the festival brought the fashionable resort 197 million in 2017 a.
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Staying in Cannes: Airbnb, campsite, luxury hotel"The festival is a veritable gold mine," says Hervé, the receptionist of a two-star hotel in Cannes. "During the film festival, my boss charges 260 euros for a room that usually costs 40 euros." In a three-star hotel in the immediate vicinity, the room rate has quintupled: from 71 to 350 euros per night.
But the profits are no longer a matter of course for the local hoteliers. For some years now, festivalgoers have not been in Cannes the whole time, says Christine Welter, vice president of the hotel association. "The cards are being shuffled, the market has to adapt," she says.
In addition, the competition of private providers is responsible for sales losses, Welter says. In the meantime, as many private rooms would be rented as hotel rooms - in total around 6,000. She speaks of "unfair business". Some would have several apartments on offer.
Airbnb alone expects between 2,500 and 4,000 nights a week from 14 to 25 May. The highlight is the coming Friday with 4600 bookings - on Friday before it is just 500.
Go camping - and rent the apartment
At a price of 10,600 euros for a duplex apartment with four rooms for the entire festival period, it is no wonder that many residents of Cannes take a lot to rent their apartment through Airbnb: "Some camp at the Grasse campsite and have their own Apartment with gold, "says Hervé from the hotel reception.
However, not only the room service providers and the city council of Cannes benefit from the festival. Also restaurants and taxis are looking forward to their business of the year. "May is the most important month for us," says Pascal Hamard, owner of an Italian restaurant. "We are then filled to the last seat - that's about 5000 place settings in eleven days."
But Hamard also notes that his business has declined in recent years. The culprits are the black sheep in the guest or passenger trades: restaurants with menus that suddenly show astronomical prices, or taxi drivers whose tariffs knew no bounds.
The guests did not miss this, says Hamard. "You realize that some of our customers have become extremely suspicious, they think any price is rip-off." Cannes visitors today are much more cautious than just a few years ago, he says. Even business people have changed their consumption behavior. "We realize that they have been instructed by their bosses - and that their budgets are much smaller than they used to be."
Travel reports from southern France