Short-Term Rental Hosts Contribute to Paris Bed Bug Outbreak, Not Americans
In a fairly recent article, International Business Times explains how Paris went on to blame us Yanks for their bed bug problems. They're wrong, for the most part. The article states that Disneyland Paris noted a high correlation between the rise of bed bugs and the increase in American guests, and then proceeds to place the blame. Well, they're mistaken. Shame on them for blaming their guests, who contribute to their revenue streams and are just as much, if not more, victims than the hotels are. There are many facts to prove how they are wrong, and we elaborate on how. One fact to consider is that flights to Paris have been on the cheap, perhaps the cheapest ever, and this is bringing a surge of budget-savvy travelers of all ages, many of whom are from the U.S. Another fact is that these budget-savvy travelers are more inclined to book short-term rentals, especially those on the cheaper side of the options available. Thirdly, very few, if any, Americans would travel directly to Disneyland Paris without seeing some of Paris that lies outside of Disneyland. It is a fact that Paris has a little more to offer than Orlando. Now consider that these guests stayed in non-Disney Paris or any other city on their way to Disneyland Paris, such as New York City; it becomes obvious just how many of these Americans could have stayed in a short-term rental along the way. This is where a major catalyst for the bed bug outbreak lies, and we hostel professionals know exactly why.
To begin, I'd like to elaborate on how we hostel pros understand the budget-savvy market segment very well—if not the best, out of all our hospitality peers. We know that the only loyalty members of this market segment show is to their bank accounts or credit card balances. Unlike hedge-fund managers who monitor their portfolio balance, these people want small budgets to flex and are hit hard by bad decisions. We hostel pros know that a hostel guest today could be couchsurfing tomorrow, staying with friends of friends on Friday, camping over the weekend, Airbnb'ing for a few days, and then splurging at a spa resort the next week because they found a great deal. Don't believe us? Here are some facts from a Phocuswright study brought to us by Hostelworld at their 2016 conference:
Ok, so that's hard to read. Sorry for that. For those who are wondering, the graph shows, in order from top to bottom, that hostel guests considered the following options before booking their last hostel trip and the approximate percentage of those interviewed:
Economy Hotels (40%)
Inn/BnB's (33%)
Midscale Hotels (33%)
A Room in a Private Home—aka Airbnb, Vacation Rentals by Owners - VRBO etc. (20%)
Luxury Hotels (20%)
Home Apartment Rental—aka Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway etc. (15%)
Camping/Campsite (10%)
The last line on the chart shows our loyal customers who "Only Consider Hostels," who comprise approximately 20%. Now you can understand exactly why we're used to these customers.
Now that's hostel guests. Americans are not too familiar with hostels and prefer other options, especially if we are older than 30 or are traveling as a couple, which is quite common in Paris. What Americans are more familiar with is room renting and house sharing from popular websites, including Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway. See below and see how operators on these sites share the same problem as us hostel pros: low to no loyalty. In fact, according to the chart provided by [Phocuswright's "Get Inside the Mind of an Airbnb Renter"](http://Get Inside the Mind of an Airbnb Renter), they are even more diverse in where they stay than our hostel guests.
So, what does this have to do with bed bugs? Well, ask your next Airbnb host what they know about bed bug prevention, and you'll understand. Hotels, and hostels for that matter, have been at war with bed bugs for decades. We understand that a gram of prevention is worth a kilo of removal. We understand the standards of cleanliness that must be upheld and the procedures that need to be followed to minimize these pests from taking over. Sure, there are exceptions, but overall, we've learned about bed bugs the hard way; the short-term private rental and home share operators have not. The competition among them has become fiercer, and in high-demand destinations, they can skimp on these standards and still receive fairly decent reviews. They can make much more money renting a property or room to tourists than to actual tenants. Worst of all, many of these operators have become hardened capitalists, not the friendly hosts who contributed to Airbnb's rise to glory. Their revenue streams allow them to operate multiple properties, driving up rental prices, which has led many cities to create laws regulating or forbidding short-term rentals in general. Even in cities with regulations on short-term rentals, these laws are still in their infancy and don't regulate the practices and procedures of cleaning as hotels and hostels are accustomed to. In many of these rentals, the hosts are absentee and not around to help with issues or supervise cleaning if done by another person or company, compared to hotels and hostels that have on-site housekeeping staff to supervise and address issues immediately, ensuring consistency and quality control.
Here is the trouble point that we hostel pros know too well. A little slack in cleaning could lead to a significant bed bug outbreak. Take this 10-step scenario as an example of how missing a simple vacuuming under the bed could lead to an explosion of bed bugs:
The guest, known as guest-zero, just finished a little glamping, not camping. He or she didn't bring a tent but stayed close to nature in a wood cabin or bungalow, which is the perfect environment for bed bugs to thrive. Guest-zero might have been the first guest of the season, but that didn't matter, for bed bugs can live longer than a year without food. So, they feasted often, and Guest Zero easily confused the bites for mosquitoes, even taking along a few adult bed bugs as stowaways in their luggage.
Guest Zero now checks into this short-term rental in a popular city booked on a well-known website. Airbnb? VRBM? Booking.com? It doesn't matter. What does matter is that Guest Zero has brought along some uninvited guests.
These pests found their way to escape the belongings of Guest Zero undetected and discovered a nice dark spot under the bed to call home, feeding on Guest Zero in a nightly ritual, nurturing themselves enough to lay some eggs while they were at it.
Guest Zero checks out as usual, with or without any hitchhiking bed bugs going along for the ride.
Now it's the cleaner's turn to do their duty and remove these eggs with standard cleaning practices, but they are under pressure from their short-term rental guru, having to do extra checkouts on the same day under tight time constraints. They have to clean 5 units instead of the average 3, with no extra help. So they cut corners and do not vacuum under the bed, saving a few extra minutes.
The next guest arrives, checks in, and is in town for a week. Unlike hotels and hostels, there is no daily cleaning of the unit during their stay, so a week is plenty of time for the bed bug eggs to hatch. Now there are bed bug nymphs that can get into the smallest spaces, such as the seams of the mattress and any cracks in particleboard or unsealed wood.
This guest doesn't realize the nymph bites, as some people don't, so they remain unalarmed and check out as normal, taking a few more hitchhikers on to the next stage of their journey or even home as an unwanted souvenir.
The cleaner vacuums under the bed, but it is too late. The nymphs are deeply entrenched in the room.
There is no new guest checking in for another three days, so these young adult bed bugs crawl into the cracks to find their way to a new victim in another room.
The cycle continues at a faster rate with each check-in. Now these unwanted guests go from short-term rentals to hotels, to hostels, and just about anywhere else indicated by the reports above, spreading the bed bugs on their way. Eventually, one of these guests realizes they've been bitten by bed bugs but only blames the latest of their accommodations, which was bed bug-free until their arrival, and leaves good reviews for all the rest they were infecting.
That is why short-term rentals are the major cause of these outbreaks and will continue to play a role for some time to come. Please note that we were only talking about Americans addressing the Travel and Leisure article. Americans don't play as large of a role in this as much as the French wish. This report from Phocuswright's "Sleep With Me, The Surprising Rise of Renting Shared Space" in 2015 shows we actually have a smaller percentage than much of the world. Look at the chart below. Now you can really understand how this bed bug problem is spreading in Paris.
So, who is to blame? Everyone. And while hotels and hostels are getting the most attention, all eyes need to be on short-term rentals equally as much, if not more. Everyone plays a part in this, and the solution is not simple. It is almost impossible to determine where to even start. So here are some pointers that can help:
It is the host/operator's duty to maintain their property and keep it pest-free. They need to ensure their cleaners are doing their job and that their furniture and facilities are not easy hiding spots and breeding grounds for bed bugs.
Short-term rental sites can offer advice for the proper prevention and cleaning procedures that minimize the risks of their guests getting bitten and their hosts' properties getting infiltrated. Simple enough. Education and prevention will help to some degree.
Short-term rental sites could also educate their guests on how to spot signs of bed bugs to avoid them and eradicate them from their possessions as quickly as possible. No one wants to be bitten often and especially risks bringing them home.
Short-term rental sites can devise triggers from reviews and social media sentiment for certain geographic markets, alerting those markets of a probable rising pest problem along with proper ways to prevent and remove them. Perhaps even offer guests a warning and guide as well. They could even partner with pest prevention and removal companies to get discounts for their hosts.
Some short-term rental sites do have guarantees for their hosts. Do these apply to bed bug infestations? Perhaps if a host could adequately prove that the infestation came from such a website's guests, then perhaps the website could be held liable. Proper removal of an infestation can cost thousands of dollars. A bed bug infestation could also spread to neighboring properties too. If somehow these hosts could get a court to ignore the host's negligence in proper prevention and cleaning, a case could be made. Even if not, it could motivate these sites to consider something like the points mentioned above.
Guests, especially those staying on the cheaper side, really need to educate themselves in bed bug detection, removal (that they can do), and prioritize their inspections to be done upon arrival. They should even teach others how to do the same. It doesn't matter what type of accommodation they choose.
Guests also need to ensure their hosts are aware of the problems immediately and leave reviews mentioning bed bugs specifically for those hosts who deserve it. Finally, the cities, which found a way to tax but not regulate these short-term rentals, or even worse, who are so old-fashioned, bureaucratic, and self-absorbed that they are ignorant of the risks unregulated short-term rentals pose to their communities and tourists alike, need to get up to speed and find a better way of regulating and preventing outbreaks from occurring in the future.
Do you still think Americans are the cause? What else could be? How do you think the solution helps? What else can be done? Feel free to leave your opinions in the comments below.