City Officials should realize that it would be difficult to curb the presence of Airbnb and other short-term rental services.
New York City had more Airbnb rentals on the New Year’s Eve than any other location in the world. And this is despite the fact that a ban has been placed on advertising short-term rentals with a heavy punishment imposed on those who try.
The city had more than 55,000 rentals on the last night of the year 2016, up from last year’s 47,000, as told to the New York Daily News by the San Francisco-based short-term rental service. As the world changed from 2016 to 2017, New York witnessed more Airbnb rentals than anywhere in the rest of the globe.
It is but obvious for people to come to the Big Apple on 31st December, for New York has the most renowned New Year’s celebration in the whole world. But the fact that a large number of people bolding disobeyed the ban and used Airbnb, is going to pose a concern to officials with respect to that policy. It is also going to upset hotel executive, who with the purpose of limiting competition had pressed for the ban.
However, the real champions are the city residents who risked up to $7,500 fines and defied the silly law. Instead of pursuing the residents who rented their apartments or homes for the weekend holiday, the New York officials have vowed to use the Airbnb ban and crack down the so-called “illegal hotels”. The term “illegal hotels” refer to locations exclusively used round the year as short-term rentals.
The city’s hotels were the driving force behind the New York’s Airbnb ban. The hotel executives were rejoicing after the ban was passed. After all, they are the only ones to be benefitted by the ban. The ban, in reality, is going to give the tourists lesser better options thus helping give one of America’s worst hotels a hold-up chance.
As shown by the New Year’s Eve, it is obvious that the tourists are looking for better options. The city residents are also willing to give up their space to tourists for money. So, the role of the Government should stop at protecting the users from fraud and violence, without interfering much into the resident-tourist mutual transactions.
So, the entire episode of New York’s failed ban on Airbnb showcases a lesson for the city officials. That is, the presence of Airbnb or other short-term rental services like VRBO and Home-away cannot be curbed. Visitors, be it to New York City or any other city, are going to look out for more and more lodging options. The marketplace is going to get more varied in the future for good. So, city planners- instead of fighting, why not ride the tide and find new ways to house new forms of lodging?