Every year, millions of travelers use Airbnb when they travel. The platform has penetrated cities and tourist locations around the world. The project – initially named Airbed
However, the enormous volume of its offer has generated controversy on several fronts: some cities – the latest, New York – have approved new and restrictive regulations; The global hotel sector has mobilized against competition that it considers unfair, and some hosts have promoted the Airbnbust campaign, due to the drop in income they have registered renting their properties.
In this controversial context, Nathan Blecharczyk, one of the founders and current director of strategy of Airbnb, criticized at the Smart City Congress “the political urgency” behind “the many models” that have appeared in recent years to treat to put a stop to the real estate impact linked to tourist apartments. After estimating that 80% of cities have some type of regulation that affects the activity of the platform, he acknowledged that “rules and regulations” are necessary.
On paper, the numbers confirm the financial success of your company: in 2022, the company declared total worldwide revenue of $8.4 billion and net profit of $1.89 billion. This summer, the numbers set a record.
The founding power of Airbnb was twofold: they helped owners optimize their apartments and houses in economic terms and, at the same time, they contributed to democratizing accommodation for travelers, offering cheaper alternatives and more flexible stay conditions than a hotel. However, what was originally perceived as a form of collaborative economy is today seen in many cities as one of the main causes of touristification and the increase in prices and shortage of residential rental supply (less lucrative than tourist rentals).
“Airbnb is a model of success that comes when urban tourism explodes, its mistake has been to remain a technological company, they provide information but do not intervene,” maintains tourism consultant Marian Muro, who was general director of Turisme when, in the In 2014, the Generalitat formalized one of the first sanctions against the company: a fine of 30,000 euros for marketing apartments that were not registered in the Tourism Registry.
The last city to approve restrictive measures was New York, where, despite the appeals presented by Airbnb, hosts are now required to register and the city can control the legality of the accommodations advertised on this portal. This adds to the policy applied by dozens of cities such as Barcelona, Valencia, Edinburgh, where hosts must obtain a planning license, Amsterdam, where they can only rent their properties for a maximum of 30 nights a year, or Portugal, which, Except in rural areas, it has stopped granting new licenses for Airbnb and other similar vacation rentals.
In addition to the administrations, the hotel lobby has also organized itself by creating an international association, GlobalReformbnb whose objective is that web search and reservation platforms, “which have greatly facilitated the growth of supply and demand, attracting consumers from all origins”, comply with the legislation.
Airbnb has also been in the international spotlight in recent months due to complaints from some of the hosts. Airbnbust arose when these owners made public the stoppage of the short-term rental market, as a result of the excessive supply and the very high rates they pay to the company. The collateral and transformative effects brought about by the tourism platform have led to the creation of Inside Airbnb, a project promoted by social activists, which provides data and information “to understand, decide and control the role of renting residential homes to tourists.”
