Home-Rental Marketplace Airbnb On Shortlist To Provide Rooms For 2016 Rio Olympics

Online home-rental marketplace Airbnb "is one of three firms being considered to provide additional rooms" for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro "as the city scrambles to accommodate visiting fans and athletes," according to Viga Gaier & Eisenhammer of REUTERS. An Olympics contract "would be a significant step into the mainstream for Airbnb, which allows home owners to rent their properties on a temporary basis." The company "has become one of Silicon Valley's most successful start-ups in the five years since it was founded." Accommodation in Rio "has long been a concern." IOC Coordination Commission Chair Nawal El Moutawakel "singled out" accommodations as "an area where progress needed to be made." The 2014 FIFA World Cup also "was criticized for the cost of accommodation, particularly in Rio where the final was played" (REUTERS, 2/25).