Today, Nathan Blecharczyk, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Airbnb, wrote to European leaders welcoming progress made on EU short-term rental rules. For more about Airbnb’s work supporting EU rules visit the EU Hub here.
Dear European Leaders,
Over two years ago, we asked the EU to consider introducing an EU-wide approach to regulating our industry that is more clear, simple and consistent across the bloc. Today, this hope is closer to becoming a reality and we thank the EU for its leadership on this matter.
Airbnb began in 2008 when two of our co-founders could not afford their rent. To help earn some extra money, they opened their San Francisco apartment and welcomed the first guests on Airbnb.
Today, more people share their homes on Airbnb in the EU than anywhere else in the world. For many European families, hosting is an economic lifeline, and nearly half say the additional income helps them afford the rising cost of living.
As with other innovations, Airbnb’s growth over the last 15 years has sometimes outpaced local rules which have been unclear or outdated. We have always sought to grow in collaboration with communities and we are proud of our work with individual governments to date: around 80% of our top 200 markets globally have some type of regulation in place today.
Within the EU, we saw the challenges that arose from rules evolving simultaneously and independently across the region. In the absence of clear regional guidance, how to write effective local rules, get access to data, protect housing, and comply with EU rules has, at times,been unclear. In some cases, historic and burdensome local rules – which were typically designed for hotels – exclude many everyday Europeans from the economic and social opportunities offered by hosting.
We welcome new EU-wide rules as a watershed moment for Airbnb and our industry. The new rules will serve as a global example of how to regulate short-term rentals, and give clear guidance to platforms and authorities on important matters, including how to share data and make local rules work for everyone.
With clear rules of the road in place, our priority is to expand our work with cities and governments to protect housing, support everyday families who host and contribute to a sustainable tourism future for Europe. We want to be good partners and take this opportunity to kickstart a new chapter in our collaborations.
We will continue to be proactive in our work with you and your teams across the region to make the new EU rules a success for everyone.
Yours sincerely,
Nathan Blecharczyk
Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Airbnb
About Airbnb
Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals across over 220 countries and regions. Travel on Airbnb keeps more of the financial benefits of tourism with the people and places that make it happen. Airbnb has generated billions of dollars in earnings for Hosts, most of whom are individuals listing the homes in which they live. Among Hosts who report their gender, more than half are women, and one in five employed Hosts are either teachers or healthcare workers. Travel on Airbnb also has generated more than $4 billion in tax revenue around the world. Airbnb has helped advance more than 1,000 regulatory frameworks for short-term rentals, including in 80% of our top 200 geographies. In late 2020, to support our continued expansion and diversification, we launched the City Portal to provide governments with a one-stop shop that supports data sharing and compliance with local registration rules. We continue to invest in innovations and tools to support our ongoing work with governments around the world to advance travel that best serves communities.
About Airbnb.org
Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc.’s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org’s charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows Hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, Hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.
Airbnb Press
Airbnb Press Office
Airbnb
