France’s state railway on Tuesday cancelled a partnership with flat-sharing website Airbnb after the hotel industry, which says its profits have been plunging due to unfair competition from the site, called the move “shocking”, reports FRANCE 24.
Until Tuesday, French travellers booking train tickets online through SNCF subsidiary Voyages-sncf.com had been receiving a follow-up email titled: “Your journey can earn you money”.
“Is your property empty during your voyage?” the message asked. “Become an Airbnb host to cover the cost of your trip.”
The message added that as soon as travellers had booked in their first guest, Airbnb would offer them “a free return ticket for their next outing in France”.
French hotels, suffering from falling visitor numbers as a consequence of terror attacks in Paris and competition from flat-sharing sites like Airbnb, were not amused that a publicly-owned company had entered into this “disloyal” partnership with the US-based company.
“How can the SNCF, which relies on government subsidies, defend and promote a company that is damaging an important sector of the French economy?” asked Didier Le Calvez, chief executive at the Bristol Hotel in Paris and head of the French Umih French hotel association.
“[Airbnb] only declares two percent of its turnover in France and doesn’t create any jobs,” he said.
“Train tickets in France are too expensive, so the SNCF is asking its customers to rent out their apartments to cover the cost while benefitting a company that doesn’t respect French tax rules,” he added. “We just don’t get it. We are shocked and angry.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the SNCF announced that in response to the complaints, the campaign with Airbnb had been stopped.
Even before the November 13 Paris attacks, the French capital’s luxury hotels were feeling the pinch.