Airbnb launches competition to spend a night at the Louvre
LONDON -- The online hospitality marketplace Airbnb is offering two people the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a night in the company of some of the world's best known artworks at the Louvre Museum in Paris to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the museum's iconic pyramid.
The competition will see one winner and a guest sleep over under the Louvre Pyramid, after "drinks with the 'Mona Lisa'" and a dinner in the company of the famous "Venus de Milo" statue, according to the Airbnb website.
All you need to do to compete for the chance to stay at the Louvre on April 30 is write an 800-character statement on why you are deserving of the special occasion.
The Louvre, France's most famous museum, is home to some of the best known artworks in history, such as Théodore Géricault's "The Raft of the Medusa," Eugène Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" and, of course, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa."
The Louvre Pyramid, where competition winners will be spending the evening on April 30, was designed the Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei and completed in 1989.
Anne-Laure Béatrix, the deputy general administrator of the Louvre, said the competition gave the winner the opportunity to experience a "unique night."
"This is the dream of many people to be able to walk around alone during the night at The Louvre," she said in a statement seen by ABC News. "This will be a magical and unforgettable moment. With the support of Airbnb we wish to have our collections discovered to people who do not go to the museum spontaneously. We have to make art accessible to everyone."
Airbnb claimed the competition allowed the company to promote "ethical tourism."
"We are glad to have a partnership with such an emblematic institution which is Le Louvre," Emmanuel Marill, the Director of Airbnb France, said in a statement. "An institution which is at the same time important for tourists and Parisians to make them possible to rediscover and to claim ownership with a different way."
