French guest houses found to discriminate, says study
Bookings to French guest houses are more likely to be accepted if the customer is male, 40 years old, and has a traditional French name, a new major study has shown.
The report was completed by five researchers at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, (CNRS)), including lead researcher Yannick L’Horty, and made public by the discrimination awareness group SOS Racisme this week, as reported by French news source FranceInfo.
It suggests that discrimination still exists for customers attempting to secure guest house bookings, with owners more likely to accept booking enquiries from would-be guests aged 42 years old on average, who are male, with a non-foreign-sounding name, and who have a more “respectable” home address.
The CNRS undertook tests at 1,433 establishments in three tourism-heavy areas: Brittany, the Pays de la Loire, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
They sent emails in French to hotels, guest houses, and camping sites, with six different requests for accommodation: one each from “a young woman of French origin”, “a young woman of African origin”, a “man in his 40s of French origin”, a “young man of French origin”, a “young man living in a more deprived area”, and a “young man of African origin”.
The responses showed that guest houses were most likely to discriminate.
The young woman of African origin received 37.3% positive responses, compared to 44.5% of the young woman of French origin.
The young man living in a deprived area received 34.8% positive replies, compared to 37.4% for the young man of African origin.
In contrast, the French man in his 40s received 57.3% positive responses.
"The differences are very significant,” said Yannick L' Horty, speaking to FranceInfo. “The priority given to the French-born man in his forties is very clear."
The researchers suggested that guest houses might be more likely to discriminate compared to hotels or campsites, because the latter receive regular inspections and are more likely to have stars or other ratings that lend them authority and protection.
Guest houses, however, are less regulated, and are in theory free to host whoever they like.
Antoine Lebreton, speaking for the Bed&Breakfast brand, said: “We don’t force [guest house owners] to do anything. Everyone is free to host whoever they like. The only condition is that they must declare themselves as a guest house to the local Mairie.”
Other guest house associations have sought to defend their values against these results, with Jacques Masson, general director of the National Federation of Gîtes in France (la Fédération nationale des Gîtes de France), saying: “These results surprise me because they do not correspond with the values of Gîtes de France. The study shows some unacceptable trends. However, I am happy that our brand was not specifically cited as a problem group.”
And while L’Horty confirms that the study included guest houses who were members of Gîtes de France and those who were not, the association added that they had “never received any complaints” on this issue.
However, Dominique Sopo, president of the SOS Racisme group, is more condemnatory, saying: “This shows the power of discrimination when there is nothing - such as legislation - stopping it. We would like hosts who see a certain level of activity to receive training on this, and booking websites should also be informed on this issue."
