Hoteliers from all over the world unite against Airbnb in view of the next Olympics. Yes, because the agreement reached no later than two weeks ago between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Airbnb, which makes the colossus of mini-rentals of lodgings in the world the official sponsor of the upcoming Tokyo 2020 games, has really not been digested by hoteliers, so much so that the trade associations from all over the world, gathered under the banner of the Global Reform BnB, have written to Tomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, underlining the "systematic violation of the rules perpetrated by Airbnb around the world and on the serious social repercussions for residents and cities".
The agreement signed in London in mid-November between the IOC president and Arbnb co-founder Joe Gebba will ensure that, in summary, for the next Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and up to 2028 (therefore also including Paris 2024, Los Angeles 2028 and the Beijing 2022 and Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games), Airbnb will provide hundreds of thousands of accommodations for the overnight stay of visitors, athletes' families and other persons invited by the sponsors. A business valued at around 500 million dollars. But the hoteliers are not there and they asked the president of the IOC a simple question: "Do you think that Airbnb respects the Olympic values and rules and that it could be one of the main sponsors of the Olympics?", asking at the same time "to demand from Airbnb the respect for the rules, a fundamental principle of sport, under penalty of annulment of the recently signed agreement”.
The hotelier associations that signed the letter they are not only European – Federalberghi (Italy), GNI & AhTop (France), Hotelverband (Germany), Hellenic Chamber of hotels (Greece), Barcelona Hotels Association (Spain) – but from the entire globe, on both sides of the oceans: AHT (Argentina ), FEHGRA & AHTRA (Argentina), ABIH-Goias (Brazil), Association Hôtellerie Québec (Canada), Fedetur (Chile), Situr Valle del Cauca (Colombia), Asociación de Hoteles, Restaurantes, Confiterías y Cafés (Colombia), Fenacaptur (Equador), All Japan Ryokan Association (Japan), Israel Hotels Association (Israel), AHRU (Mexico), AIHPY (Paraguay), AHRU (Uruguay), HANYC (USA New York).
