Airbnb was launched in 2008 in the US and has grown extremely fast. At this moment the company is active in 192 countries, 33.000 cities and has more than 2 million listings (Airbnb.com, 2016). Ever since the release of Airbnb, there has been a lot of debate going on about the negative and positive impacts of the website. This blog will discuss some of the greatest advantages and disadvantages of Airbnb.
One of the greatest advantages Airbnb creates, is a way of saving money for travelers. Airbnb is in fact much cheaper than the average hotel and makes it much easier to travel to foreign cities (Busbud.com, 2016). Another great advantage is that house owners can make a little extra money by renting out their house. So far so good!
More and more often, there are terrifying stories on the news about owners and guests being attacked in unsafe Airbnb residences. Also complete houses have been destroyed by overnight guests. In a city in Canada a house got completely destroyed during a ‘drug-induced orgy’ with an estimated cost of damage of $50.000 (Mashable.com, 2015). Although Airbnb has covered the cost for this ‘orgy’, Airbnb has not found a proper solution to guarantee more safety for guest and hosts.
Furthermore, houses are being bought with the sole purpose of renting it out on the website and this is changing entire neighborhood dynamics. This also causes house prices to rise in certain parts of the city. Some house-owners even stated that they were forced out of their house by commercial Airbnb house-hosts, also called ‘super-hosts’. Even more frightening is that these “super-hosts” generate almost 40% of all revenue in certain cities (Skift.com, 2016). These type of hosts often ignore taxes. In fact, Airbnb is facing tax issues in almost every country and has not been able to solve this problem so far.
Airbnb has created many advantages for house owners and travelers, although some people might argue that the world was better off without Airbnb. What do you think, does the advantages created by Airbnb outweigh the disadvantages?
Sources:
https://www.airbnb.com/about/about-us
https://www.busbud.com/blog/airbnb-vs-hotel-rates/
http://mashable.com/2015/04/30/house-destroyed-airbnb-renters/#o2uCANCGQmqM
Study: Airbnb Super Hosts Generate 39% of Revenue in Major Markets
First of all thank you for the article, I specifically liked the fact that you ended with a discussion question which makes it easier to react! For the benefits side I would like to add that a lot of people actually enjoy the “home-atmosphere” when travelling, living in a flat or house with an own kitchen is especially interesting when you are travelling with 2+ persons. You can certainly rent entire flats our houses from commercial providers but as you said, that would be more expensive. Additionally, some guests also stay WITH the actual owner in the appartment who has a room free and tries to earn extra money by putting it on AirBnB. This is of course not the norm but I have talked to people who were really happy to have a local in the house to get good advice. From my point of view you will always find the “worst cases” as these are likely to spread everywhere by the means of social media but most of the times the AirBnB experience seemed to be good. For the damages you addressed: I think whenever you offer something for temporary rent or lease you have to anticipate that you might not get it back in the desired state. Further, I do not believe that AirBnB should be blamed for the damages: those making the offer simply have to be aware that things might not go smoothly, AirBnB to me is merely the provider of the platform. At this moment in time, considering all the benefits, perceived quality and cost of stay I think that AirBnBs advantages outweigh the disadvantages. For the future however I think you addressed a very important point: the impact of AirBnB flats on the local housing market. I have noticed that portals such as WG-gesucht (German site for student housing) is flooded with Airbnb instead of actual long-term flat offers. Obviously, students do not want to AirBnB but live somewhere long term. Moreover, looking at the situation of a lot of students AND regular citizens in Rotterdam for instance: AirBnBs which could be perfectly fine flats for multiple students/ a family or else are available but regular housing seems scarce. I do not think that the owners of the AirBnBs care because they earn their money but I wonder if a shift in local opinion about Airbnb might follow at some point. Therefore, I believe the discussion of disadvantages of AirBnB properties, laws and local housing availability is only getting started and I am really curious what the outcome will be. Will it be the next Uber which is battling on multiple legal fronts all around the world facing prohibition? From my point of view I this is just what will be happening.
Thank you for writing this article. Since I used AirBnB services at least 10 times for the past 4 months, I could not stop myself not to participate in this discussion. First, I would like to share my experience with AirBnB in Rotterdam. Before I moved to a long-term accommodation I had to spend a month and a half moving between different rooms in different location booked thorough AirBNB. Although AirBNB market in Rotterdam is not well developed compared to other Western European cities, I still managed to book private rooms for half the price of the cheapest hotels in Rotterdam, a price close to that of a hostel. If it were not for AirBnB I would have either spend a fortune on hotels or leave. Moreover, I met some fantastic locals who helped me a lot in my first days in a foreign country and became my friends. So, I strongly support you for the advantages you have listed.
Second, I am sure that there are some terrifying stories but the probability similar events to occur while staying in a hotel or at a friend is likely the same. For example, when a traveler books a hotel in a city he/she doesn’t know, there is a high chance she/he end up in a bad neighborhood. It is booker’s responsibility to research the area of his/her booking in order to mitigate the risk of being robbed. And, Airbnb shows relatively narrow location of the rooms it offers, so I disagree this is a problem of the platform.
Third, regarding tax issues, I don’t believe that the problem is ingenious for AirBnB. The risk of tax evasion is present in any other off market booking. For example, many people rent out their properties through the word of mouth without paying taxes or signing a legally binding contract. So, I would rather think that this is a government policy weakness. The government should either find a way to control this problem or to give incentives to people not to engage in nefarious activities.
In conclusion, I agree with Carla that advantages outweigh disadvantages and I am eager to see how the market will develop and overcome any impediments on its way.