How Airbnb went wrong – and how to fix it

Here in Brighton – where Responsible Travel is based – the tourism slogan is ‘Never Normal’. We’re a city, a community, that prides itself on being a little bit weird. We even have silent disco walking tours – this is an actual thing.

But there is one thing about Brighton that’s very normal, and that’s crowds of tourists. If I want to walk to the train station on a sunny bank holiday, I know to use the back streets, because otherwise the incoming tide of people hauling heavy suitcases from the station might sweep me all the way down to the beach. And I also know to avoid the seafront between the piers the following morning, because otherwise I will be instantly depressed by the amount of litter strewn around the stones. Beach clean-ups are the go-to idea for any company here looking to ‘give back’.

As well as hotels, Brighton also has a significant number of Airbnb properties that has grown to accommodate many of these visitors. But while offering plenty of choice to the tourist, this puts a lot of strain on the local property market.

Brighton has a population of just over 275,000 people. The number of families here, and people under the age of 45, has declined by an estimated 10-15 percent over the last decade. Many of my colleagues have moved out of the city and one of the main reasons for that is because they cannot find anywhere affordable to live in the centre.

Yet of the nearly 8,000 listings here on short-term let platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, around three-quarters of them are one or two bed properties – homes that are in high demand for young people, couples and families, to buy or to rent. Most of these Airbnb properties are in the city centre, and when added to the number of second homes (2,700 registered in Brighton and Hove) that are empty for much of the year, that is a lot of options removed from the residential market.

It's not like it’s a difficult decision for property owners to make, either. If you search online for ‘Airbnb management in Brighton’ you will get dozens of results for companies willing to look after every aspect of letting your property on a short-term basis, from professional photography services to laundry to maintenance. You can simply hand over the keys and wait for the money to roll in.

And this situation, where local people desperately need affordably priced homes while suitable properties are being rented out short-term to tourists, is far from unique to Brighton. You can see it in popular tourism destinations around the world. It is among the most obvious causes of overtourism, a phenomenon that damages the lives of residents as well as the enjoyment of visitors.

Many places are reliant on tourism, and short-term lets have their benefits. There are no easy answers to this situation, but stronger regulation of holiday letting platforms by local authorities prioritising the needs of residents must be part of any effective solution.

How does Airbnb cause overtourism?

Airbnb and other short-term holiday let platforms like Vrbo hollow out local communities because the properties they market are withdrawn from the residential market, often permanently. At the same time (and they are far from the only ones in the travel industry doing this) these companies promote superficial images of a destination, such as a solitary gondola being propelled peacefully along a quiet Venice canal, or a crowd-free Eiffel Tower. In doing so they contribute to the ‘commodification’ of a destination without acknowledging the issues caused by too much tourism.

By making property unaffordable for local people while at the same time marketing a superficial image of a destination, platforms like Airbnb cause overtourism

Many Airbnb hosts own multiple properties, and for some, short-term letting has become a career. The platform has an ‘ambassador’ programme that incentivises its most highly rated hosts to recruit new hosts, fuelling growth.

Yet Airbnb hosts are not subjected to the same taxes or strict regulations as hotels. For instance, hotels pay business rates which go to councils and therefore contribute to local infrastructure, whereas owners of private property do not. And currently tax authorities depend on the honesty of Airbnb owners to accurately report their rental income.

All of this means that the housing market is squeezed, property prices soar beyond the reach of local residents, and neighbourhoods are drained of the character that make them so appealing to visitors in the first place. Meanwhile for those people able to afford to live in city centres, their lives are continually disrupted by overtourism: excess crowding, excess litter and noise.

The positives of Airbnb

In its original form, where people would let a spare room in their own home to earn a little additional income, Airbnb was a brilliant idea. It was a pioneer of the ‘sharing economy’ – hosts benefitted financially, and guests could enjoy conveniences they mightn’t get in a traditional hotel such as the ability to cook their own food, as well as an opportunity to live alongside local people and get to know their culture. At Responsible Travel we proudly offer holidays featuring homestays that have these exact advantages.

While Airbnb rakes in huge profits, it has happily allowed its model to be corrupted

Some tourists, particularly families, naturally find it very practical to stay in a home rather than a hotel. And with its opt-in ‘hosted experiences’ like guided neighbourhood tours or cookery lessons, Airbnb can help to spread tourism income around small, independent businesses.

Rather boldly, Airbnb has argued that it helps to reduce overtourism, by spreading overnight stays around suburban areas and relieving pressure on city centres. This does beg a couple of questions though: where does Airbnb think all these people are going during the daytime? And rather than consciously dispersing tourists into suburban areas, is Airbnb not simply expanding outwards once city centres reach full capacity?

While Airbnb rakes in huge profits, it has happily allowed its model to be corrupted. It didn’t take long for some property owners to realise they could make a lot more money through short-term lets than they could from traditional long-term rentals. For example, in the United States, some 30 percent of listings are managed by hosts with 20+ properties. These hosts are often very financially solvent and, as a result, can snap up properties new on the market to add to their portfolio.

Very often now, when someone books an Airbnb, the experience can feel alienating. You collect the key from a box or a nearby shop; the place you stay doesn’t feel like a home because it isn’t one; your only contact with your hosts is by text and email, and the only cultural knowledge you derive from your stay comes from the generic welcome pack.

There are ethical alternatives to Airbnb. Every overnight stay with socialbnb directly contributes to a social or ecological project. A homestay in Nepal supports vital healthcare facilities and efforts to upgrade schools. A lakeside bungalow in Germany supports a non-profit working in socially deprived areas to inspire young people through dance. Ecobnb is a network of environmentally friendly accommodation around the world where every property meets a certain number of sustainability criteria, such as serving organic food, using renewable energy, or providing car-free accessibility.

Airbnb of course is by far the largest platform for short-term holiday lets and it’s going nowhere. If you still want to use it, it’s possible to weed out more problematic properties by clicking on the host to see how many properties they have. You can also look at the images and reviews to get an idea if you’ll be staying in someone’s actual home, or a property that’s solely in use for tourism.

Would banning short-term lets work?

In response to widespread protests against housing shortages and overtourism, the mayor of Barcelona has announced plans to entirely ban short-term lets. And New York made it illegal for entire homes to be let out for periods of under 30 days (though it still goes on under the radar).

Research has found that banning short-term rentals leads to an influx of properties back onto the residential market, and a decrease of around two percent in house prices and rents, but that these changes may be temporary. That’s because while short-term letting platforms certainly contribute to housing problems, they’re unlikely to be the leading cause. If we look specifically at the UK, house-building targets have been missed for decades, council properties have been sold off without being replaced, the population has grown by around seven percent since 2010, and more people are living alone than at any other time in history.

While short-term letting platforms certainly contribute to housing problems, they’re unlikely to be the leading cause

Outright bans on short-term letting platforms would cut the number of overnight visitors to places, easing pressure on those that suffer most from overtourism. But this tactic would also have a detrimental effect on an industry on which many cities depend. Brighton’s Visitor Economy Strategy acknowledges that growing tourism helps it develop a cultural sector that local people share in. Tourism also supports many diverse independent shops, bars and restaurants, and thousands of jobs in the city. And overnight visitors are known to spend considerably more than day-trippers.

Banning Airbnb is a way for authorities to tell people who are angry about overtourism and a lack of housing: “We hear your concerns, we’re fixing things”. But the fact that we’re seeing protests on the scale of those taking place across Spain, and in many other countries too, shows they must have been hearing these concerns for quite some time.

Better regulation is essential

Airbnb can take its fair share of the blame for the overtourism crisis. But overall, the fault must lie with local authorities that take a ‘more is better’ approach to tourism, and then fail to effectively manage the excess demand that creates.

For a long time tourism was regarded by government less as an industry and more of a frivolity, a bit of fun, something where everyone wins. Nowadays there is greater recognition that there are often hidden costs, that more is not always better, and that unrestricted tourism only benefits the few.

A feasible, nuanced and fair solution would be tighter regulation on a city-by-city basis, based on the different problems holiday letting platforms cause from place to place

The same is true of short-term letting platforms. While there is certainly value in them – a useful secondary income for owners, the feeling of ‘living like a local’ and convenience for guests – they have also been allowed to run out of control. In an ideal world, Airbnb would return to its roots: people sharing space in their own homes for travellers. Hosts would genuinely be hosts, not just ‘service providers’, and there would be strict rules on how property can be used.

But let’s be realistic, that’s not going to happen, and neither is a global ban. A more feasible, nuanced and fair solution would be tighter regulation on a city-by-city basis, based on the different problems they cause from place to place. Licensing, or capping the number of nights a property can be let or the percentage of property units that can be let city-wide, are a few of the tactics that have been employed successfully in parts of the world including Paris, Florence, Amsterdam and San Francisco.

Because ultimately what’s needed is more responsible stewardship of popular destinations, to ensure that tourism doesn’t just benefit property owners and travellers at the expense of local people. Places need to be conscious about what they want from tourism. Do they want to use it, or be used by it?Places need to be conscious about what they want from tourism. Do they want to use it, or be used by it?

Places need to be conscious about what they want from tourism. Do they want to use it, or be used by it?

At the heart of all this is a need for balance and respect. Authorities need to balance tourism with the needs of local residents, who rarely get consulted about how the industry is managed and regulated. This despite the fact that tourism is an industry that happens all around them, where they live, work, shop, and take their kids to school. And visitors themselves need to be conscious that the places they are visiting are not simply backdrops for photographs, but people’s homes.

The business-as-usual approach with tourism is no longer working. Let’s create a new normal.

Our overtourism section goes into greater detail on a global phenomenon.

Written by Rob Perkins

This article was first published at Responsibletravel.com