Four technology vendors that usually operate in the vacation rental ecosystem have launched Travel In France, a website aimed at post-pandemic domestic travelers in the country.
The quartet - GuestReady, HostnFly, NOCNOC and Welkeys - have built the service in a bid to revive the national market for trips by using their respective expertise in both back-end and consumer-facing rental products.
NOCNOC is the only existing B2C service provider. GuestReady usually handles concierge tools for guests and hosts; Wellkeys is a rental management platform; and HostnFly is a distribution and content platform.
Travel In France is initially featuring 3,500 properties in 40 French cities, with each property checked in person by a concierge and housekeeping carried out by professionals.
Although a number of the providers work with existing short-term rental platforms, a statement says: "With reduced response times, ease of access and cleanliness of accommodations, the platform aims to avoid the unpleasant surprises which often occur when renting from private individuals on conventional platforms."
A survey conducted in France in May, as lockdown measures were eased in the country, suggested seven out of ten citizens would be willing to travel domestically over the course of the summer.
The site opened on July 1.
Although unrelated in terms of strategy, speaking in June this year, Eric Lombard, CEO of the French government’s financial institution Caisse des Depots, said it’s time for the industry to take back the relationship with the customer.
Lombard cited the level of disintermediation of the industry from U.S. platforms including Airbnb and Booking.com.
An as-yet unnamed project is still in its infancy but officials in the country are said to discussing a massive data platform containing all tourism information about restaurants, attractions and more for visitors to the country.