Paris (AFP)
The Airbnb tourist rental platform, forced by the European Commission to clarify the way it presents the offers, announced Wednesday that 8.5 million French have used its services last summer, an increase of 35% compared to 2018.
Nearly a quarter of them, two million people, have booked a tourist accommodation on the platform for the first time, between June 1 and August 31, said a statement.
Among these 8.5 million French Airbnb users last summer, six out of ten travelers booked in France, primarily in Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur, New Aquitaine, Occitanie, Auvergne-Rhône -Alpes and Brittany, according to the same source. And nearly a million French travelers have stayed in their own region.
Those who went abroad chose Spain, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom first.
In July, the tourist rental platform finally clarified the way in which it presents the offers to consumers, including the total price of accommodation, after negotiations with the European Commission which had issued an ultimatum and threatened with sanctions if it does not comply with EU consumer protection legislation.
Among the changes made include the display of the total price of accommodation from the first page of results. Consumers "no longer run the risk of discovering mandatory fees on the following pages", the Commission noted on 19 July.
These additional costs include, in particular, so-called "service" or cleaning fees, or various local taxes which, at the time of payment, add to the price that must be paid by consumers.
The platform must now also indicate more clearly whether the hosting offer it offers is placed on the market by a private host or a professional and give simplified access to its site to an online dispute resolution procedure.
The company has also had to revise its terms of service: these now specify in particular that users can bring an action against Airbnb before the courts of their country of residence.
© 2019 AFP