Reports over the weekend suggest that Airbnb will be unveiled in London as a global sponsor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games through to the Los Angeles Games of 2028.
The traditional image of IOC Members staying in the most luxurious hotels is unlikely to be swapped for single rooms in shared apartments but the brand’s expansion into tours and other experiences is likely to be the prominent feature of the partnership.
The announcement will put Airbnb on the same level as Coca Cola, Intel, Samsung, Visa and Toyota among 13 global brands at the very top of the Olympic commercial pile.
Allianz will join them in 2021 as a partner of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Coca Cola extended its partnership with the Olympics into a second century earlier this year. In contrast, Airbnb was only founded in San Francisco in 2008, the year of the Beijing Games.
It first came on board with the Olympics when it was the ‘Official Alternative Accommodation” service at the Rio Summer Games and the Pyeongchang Winter Games over the past three years.
After the 2016 games, it claimed that it had provided accommodation solutions for 85,000 fans travelling to Brazil in 48,000 different spaces.
Airbnb is active in Ireland with an estimated 10,000 properties being available for short term letting at any one time.
New laws relating to short term lets in areas known as rent pressure zones were introduced in July 2019 to alleviate concerns over the number of houses and properties being taken out of accessible circulation at a time of a serious shortage of housing around the country.
Airbnb lists extensive tax and regulation issues as part of its Irish website.
There is little doubt that coming on board as a partner of the World’s biggest sporting extravaganza will assist in terms of its own reputation here and around the world.
