BNBKEYS, a management and concierge services startup, was created a year ago in Cannes, France. Now celebrating their first anniversary, we wanted to discuss with their team about their engagement towards local companies and their vision of the vacation rental industry. Here’s their testimony.

Focusing on the province: reaching different assets than in the capital

Paris gathered almost 87,000 declared Airbnb housings in September 2017, which made it owning 22% of the French vacation rental market. Yet, not all short term rentals are situated inside the capital city: BNBKEYS’s success story proves there’s still a lot to do with the rest of the country, as it has now become the first vacation rental platform on the Côte d’Azur, in just a few months.

“BNBKEYS chose to develop in priority on the Côte d’Azur, then spreading to other provincial cities, choosing in priority seaside resorts such as the Basque Coast, or the Normandy Coast.”

Let’s take for example the city of Cannes, where BNBKEYS was created: the town wasn’t chosen by accident. The MIPIM, LIONS and Festival de Cannes are just a few examples of the attractiveness of the city, not only for tourists but also professional travelers who can enjoy specific partnerships such as hybrid driver services, personalised advice and much more.

Creating and promoting the local fabric

Today’s travelers have evolved. As we’ve entered a time of internet and social networks, travelers now want to be able to discuss, exchange, share with the locals.

Faced with these new demands, BNBKEYS decided to develop its very own concept: to create exclusive partnerships with players in the local economy, whether they offer personal sports coaching services, hybrid driving or tourist attractions visits.

Guiding their clients during their whole stay, and connecting them to local professionals, BNBKEYS is part of the long-term vision of vacation rental and global tourism: to be home anywhere, while enjoying custom, quality services just like in the traditional hotel industry.

Open Properties (caretaking solution), FÜSO (breakfast delivery), Timenjoy (selection of cultural events) or WeProov (electronic inventory solution) are as many key-partnerships selected by BNBKEYS, for owners and travelers.

“It’s important for us [...] to federate young startups, that bring innovative ideas and can create a game-changer offer to BNBKEYS, in quite a competitive industry where margins are relatively low.

We’re convinced unity makes strength. These different innovative collaborations contribute to the local and regional economic drive and strengthen the attractiveness of young companies such as ours, which were not necessarily created in Paris at first.”

Conclusion

Added to a complete management offer (listings creation/management, publication, price optimisation…), BNBKEYS made the difference thanks to a simple, yet essential idea: to create an added value for travelers and cities in which they’re available, offering a tailored service that can adapt to the clients’ desires and needs, whether they own vacation rentals or they travel.