Insee Première · November 2021 · n° 1879

Accommodations offered by individuals via platforms In 2019, Paris and Nice among the top 10 most visited cities in the European Union

Booming in the 2010’s, short-stay accommodation offered by individuals via platforms now represents a key segment of the tourism economy. In 2019, with 109 million guest nights, or one fifth of all guest nights spent in the European Union, France was particularly concerned by this type of accommodation. A particularity of France is that the share of domestic guest nights is very high, much higher than in Spain or Italy, that are more dependent on international tourists.

Coasts and mountains play an important role in the success of the accommodation offered by the platforms. As a result, reservations are very seasonal. 

In the ranking of European cities, Paris was the leading destination in 2019, ahead of Barcelona, Lisbon and Rome. Like most capital cities, it was popular all year with international clients. With more than 5 million guest nights, Nice was the ninth most popular city in the European Union, competing with Porto and Vienna.