@Rodney11
Any man who has an Irish granny and knows what a hurling pitch is, is a friend of mine! 😉
Re the data - take any stats you hear relating to Airbnb with a huge pinch of salt. The company is notoriously secretive about the true facts and figures - and indeed, their steadfast intransigence in releasing the very data that would allow regional governments and municipal authorities around the world to draft fair and equitable legislation (ie the exact breakdown of small independent local hosts vs large-scale "professional" and commercial operators) has greatly attributed to the breakdown of good working relationships between the company and local authorities globally, and in many cases, directly resulted in draconian blanket regulations being implemented that served only to harm small local hosts and put them out of business, while being completely ignored by the scammers, rogues and connected players with huge inventories, deep pockets and/or friends in high places, most of whom have the financial and/or influential clout to either sidestep or deflect any attempts to curb their operations.
Airbnb is perfectly well aware of this of course, but rather than release the endlessly-requested data to regulators and policymakers that would permit them to do their jobs properly and stem the flood of illegal operators in their respective jurisdictions, the company has instead spent hundreds of millions on epic court battles to win the rights not to have to give up the information that would ultimately see them forced to oust countless thousands of rogue players and "bad actors" from their platform. That, in itself, should tell us all we need to know about the motives and machinations of this company.
Airbnb's years-long, ongoing battle with the city of New York being the most high-profile case of many. One can only hope that the intentions behind Brian Chesky's recent $2 million personal contribution to the COVID-19 response in NYC were entirely philanthropic and honourable, as opposed to strategic and calculated. (To be fair though, in this instance, at least, I believe his heart is in the right place. He also donated another $2.5 million - of his own money - to the COVID efforts in a number of other stricken US cities, and has long since been a signatory of the Giving Pledge, a movement of wealthy individuals who commit to donating a large proportion of their wealth to philanthropy and charitable causes, either during their lifetimes, or in their wills)
For as long as I can remember, the media has obsequiously and obediently regurgitated whatever gushing press releases, "economic insight reports" and "survey results" that Airbnb has dished out to them - verbatim in most instances - and rarely ever questioned the veracity or validity of what they were being spoon-fed. Thankfully though, over the past 6-12 months, a growing band of inquisitive and extremely tenacious investigative reporters, from both mainstream and niche media outlets - The Information, WSJ, Business Insider, CNBC, NYT, CBC (Canada), Vice, Wired UK, BBC (UK), DW (Germany), Le Monde (France) etc, along with at least two accomplished and esteemed documentary crews, one in UK, one in US - have finally started to open their eyes and ears, and delve a lot deeper into what's really going on behind Airbnb's fuzzy-warm, happy-clappy, noble-intent facade.
It's my firm and unshakeable belief that the accumulated impact, combined weight and viral reach of the revelation of media findings and exposes over the coming months, will rock Airbnb to the core and destabilise their already crumbling foundations, and ultimately have infinitely more bearing than any other single social, economic or political factor, on the future - if any - of Airbnb Inc. The truth always outs, in the end, and when trust in a company has been irreparably and irrevocably broken - as it undoubtedly will be - there really is no way back, for anyone
