Rio de Janeiro, March 26 (IANS): The organisers of Rio Olympics said that they have signed a deal with online accommodation provider Airbnb, which will provide 20,000 rooms for fans during the 2016 Games.
It would be the first arrangement of its kind at an Olympics. The organisers additionally have traditional large-scale accommodation in place with hotels, reports Xinhua.
But the link up with Airbnb takes the pressure off after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed fears over Rio's ability to free up 40,000 hotel rooms in time for the Games, which start August 5 next year. Many of those rooms are at hotels still under construction.
Airbnb, which boasts 17 million users worldwide, is already popular with Brazilians and foreign visitors who wish to rent a room in an owner's house, undercutting the price of a hotel room.