'Like Frankenstein’s monster, Airbnb has grown into something else entirely'

We want to thank Airbnb for its support of the regulated accommodation industry.

The industry, in turn, supports the role of Airbnb when it comes to its much mentioned ‘mum and dad operators’ renting out rooms in their homes or their own places when they go on holidays. As we have mentioned , our only issue is with commercial-residential accommodation – or quasi-hotels.

Disappointingly, but unsurprisingly, Airbnb’s article was light on facts.

Airbnb continues to perpetuate the strategically-crafted myth of ‘home sharing,’ when the real data indicates that, like Frankenstein’s monster, Airbnb has grown into something else entirely. It can be hard to find common ground when one party seems to be in ‘denial’ as to what its business actually is.

Airbnb perpetuates the myth of ‘home sharing’, the TAA says. Photo: James Horan

For example, there was no mention of the fact commercial-residential property listings on that site are up a massive 42 per cent in a year – and the top few hosts have hundreds of active listings in their names. This hardly seems like Mum and Dad trying to make ends meet by renting out the spare room for a few weeks!

Let’s be clear here – one host has a mammoth 252 active listings across Sydney with total earnings of more than $3.8 million. Another has 182 active listings with annual earnings of $2.1 million. A third has 142 listings with earnings of more than $1.1 million… I could go on but I am sure the point is obvious; these are not the ‘mum and dad’ operators so beloved by Airbnb in its generic media statements.

This part of the sector is morphing into actual commercial operations, which despite Airbnb’s protestations, are directly competing with existing hotels, costing jobs and investment.

The accommodation sector, after all, is an industry which contributes to the community on so many levels – a sector which adds over $8 billion to the Australian economy each and every year and supports the livelihoods of 180,000 Australians. Our hotels are the international face of Australia.

Apart from the dozen story tellers, marketers and lobbyists in Surry Hills, how many jobs does Airbnb create? How much does it pay in tax? Even Airbnb struggles to answer this question.

The number of commercial-style residential listings on Airbnb has grown by more than 40pc, according to the tourism body. Photo: Brook Mitchell

As I mentioned above we have no issue with individual operators renting out rooms in their own homes but have real issues with quasi commercial enterprises springing up across metropolitan Sydney. It’s simple really – renting out premises for more than three months a year, plus the growing number of properties rented out by hosts with multiple listings, indicates a commercial operation.

As we have mentioned before – Airbnb has acknowledged overseas multiple listings by hosts across different addresses indicates a commercial operation – why won’t they do the same here?

Yes, the hotel supply line is growing and that is great news for the entire economy – but demand needs to grow with it.

There’s no doubt investor confidence needs to be sustained. And one way to do that? Proper planning and regulation around the new burgeoning commercial-residential property sector – creating a level playing field for all and supporting real employment.