@Rowena29 @Sandra126
Let me tell you how this little story plays out..
First, you get the invitations to the cruises, the outings, the parties, the all-expenses-paid happy-clappy social gatherings, with everyone having a wonderful time, joyfully singing the praises and extolling the virtues of this awesome company..
Then, pretty soon you'll have the subtle (and not-so-subtle) urgings to sign up your friends, your family, your neighbours, your postman and everyone else you ever knew to become a host on Airbnb, because it's such a fun and easy side-gig, they'll make pots of money, and hey - in the rare event that anything does go wrong, Airbnb and their famous million dollar guarantee will have their backs.. right?
Next thing you know, your town/city will be bursting at the seams with Airbnbs - the majority of them unmonitored, and being punted out by "professional" and commercial operators (with all the well-documented associated problems that come hand-in-hand with that), and your local authorities will be chomping at the bit to shut you down.
You'll still be getting invitations to those Airbnb meet-ups, only now they'll be scripted and stage-managed affairs, rallying the troops to get out there and fight Airbnb's battles for them. You'll be urged to ambush your local politicians, and wax lyrical to them about how Airbnb absolutely must be allowed to carry on operating in your area, as the little guys like you depend on your income to pay your bills and feed your family. (Airbnb will generously provide handy templates to help you draft your missives)
Then will follow an extended period of pure hell, when every news article and radio/TV bulletin in your region will be blasting out damning indictments of the ravages of Airbnb (and Airbnb hosts) on your local housing stock, communities and public order. You'll suddenly find that you've become Public Enemy Number 1, and find yourself blurting out to people that you're a stripper on the internet or something, rather than face the shame and embarrassment of admitting that you have anything to do with Airbnb.
During this time, Airbnb will go to ground and be unavailable to answer any questions hosts may have. The only time you'll hear from them is when they want to wheel you out for whatever their latest stage-managed, scripted, media-attended PR stunt is. (You may be asked if you'd like to ask questions at these events, only when you get there, you'll find that Airbnb will provide you a shortlist of 6 or so questions - written by them - that you must choose from to ask)
Throughout this entire tortuous period, Airbnb will continue to aggressively recruit more and more "hosts" in your area, offering juicy big bonuses and incentives to lure them on board. Needless to say, your local authorities will be getting more and more pissed off with this, and before you know it, they'll have been forced to introduce draconian regulations which will either wipe you out altogether, or restrict your ability to operate so severely, that hosting is no longer a viable option for you (particularly as the gross-oversaturation of your market will have pushed rents down so low, as to be no longer worth it for you anyway) Not to worry though, the big "Pro" and corporate players will carry on regardless, and they'll take up the slack. End of story.
There's no such thing as a free lunch, ladies. Nor a free cruise, neither.