@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0
The real issue here isn't just about hosts not being treated equally, or fairly - this is about small hosts and homesharers being forced out of business by the likes of Domio, and Hiphipstay, and hordes of other shady operators now spreading like a plague through all markets - who for whatever reasons, appear to be given free reign by Airbnb to carry right on breaking every rule (and law) in the book. And even when they're caught red-handed - and exposed by the media - Airbnb seems strangely unwilling to kick them off the platform. Shouldn't we all be demanding to know why, exactly, that might be?
The problem is, small hosts and homesharers think that this is not something that's happening in their towns and cities, and it can't possibly affect them. They couldn't be more wrong, sadly, and even if it hasn't affected them yet, it very soon will.
Let's take Nashville as just one example. A thriving tourist destination and one of Airbnb's most profitable cities in the US, a market with stunning year on year growth since around 2015. Yet according to data analytics firm Airdna, just 7% of Airbnb listings in Nashville - or 436 of 6696 rentals - are currently offered by homesharers. (8% pre-covid). There was a time, not so very long ago, when homesharers in any city you cared to look at, typically hosted around 50% of available listings - and often more.
So how can homesharers only account for 7% of listings in Nashville now? Well I guess only Airbnb knows the full truth of that, but what we do know is this - the city has been flooded with listings from your Sonders, Stay Alfreds, Domios and swarms of other Sonder- and Domio-wannabe get-rich-quick arbitrage merchants (many of whom haven't the first clue about business or hospitality - and couldn't care two hoots about ethical or even legal hosting - but are all clamouring to ride the crest of that lucrative Airbnb wave.
Another prolific player in Nashville has been mega-host Lyric, in which Airbnb itself led a $160 million funding round in April 2019. The firm's CEO and Co-founder, Andrew Kitchell proudly informed Bloomberg last year that Lyric was the first company to receive a short-term rental permit in Nashville and has partnerships with 20 of America's top Real Estate firms. Interestingly, around the very same time as Lyric were given their green light, scores of small local hosts were being forced into a bitter legal battle with the city, after having their own short term rental permits abruptly rescinded. Metro Nashville government was later found guilty of contempt of court for continuing to send violation notices to hosts who were appealing the city's revocation of their permits.
Another big player in Nashville has been the 348 unit "Niido powered by Airbnb" complex, in which Airbnb partnered with Newgard Developments to allow tenants to rent out their homes on Airbnb, with a 25% cut of the proceeds going to management, on top of Airbnb's usual fees. Let's just say the project hasn't exactly been a roaring success, with pre-existing residents saying that they felt "blindsided by living in a giant Airbnb", and constant complaints ranging from vandalism to burglary to antisocial behaviour being levelled against the endless stream of Airbnb guests.
See for yourselves -
https://www.apartmentratings.com/tn/nashville/nido-nashville_9199332346275175846/u-3908384/
So it does appear that Airbnb and their privileged partners were freely permitted to help themselves to a sizeable slice of the juicy Nashville pie, while the city bosses were apparently going all out to shut down many not-so-fortunate or lavishly-funded small local hosts. Some may view that as Airbnb cannibalising iits own market - some may not. But that paltry 7% homesharers figure sure speaks for itself.
Penelope