Australia’s Federal Court has ordered Airbnb to pay about $10 million ($15 million Australian) in penalties after violating consumer protection laws through misleading pricing, said the country’s competition watchdog on Wednesday.
09.12.2023 - 14:21 / skift.com / An Airbnb / Dennis Schaal
Airbnb launched its Host Clubs in 2016, in part to help with local campaigns against regulatory clampdowns. Now, it is seeking to expand these clubs.
The company is hiring a Community Growth & Experience Lead to hone the growth strategy of its 640 Host Clubs around the world, which currently count around 300,000 members. Skift learned of the initiative through an Airbnb job posting. Airbnb removed the job posting on Friday because it received many applications and is beginning the interview process.
“In this role, you will work closely with and report to the Director of Community Management, and work across the Community Connection, Marketing, Geos and Policy teams,” the posting said.
Airbnb announced the launch of Home Sharing Clubs at a press conference in 2015, and Reuters reported at the time that the goal of the clubs was to organize hosts to help “head off regulatory crackdowns.”
There is no shortage of regulatory crackdowns against Airbnb and other short-term rental providers these days. And the new community growth & experience lead would work with Airbnb’s public policy team, among other business units.
For example, Dallas is trying to block short-term rentals in neighborhoods with single-family homes, but on Wednesday a judge temporarily blocked implementation of that law.
New York City’s new host registration law, which allows for rentals only when hosts are present during a stay of fewer than 30 days, has driven listings underground, and led to rising hotel rates, according to some reports. An Airbnb-commissioned survey released Friday found that 18% of travelers who responded would be less likely to visit the city because of the new rules.
Airbnb.com says the purpose of Host Clubs is for members to learn from “top hosts,” get “insider access” to Airbnb news and give feedback to the company, and “collaborate with your community and local organizations to positively impact tourism and important causes in your area.”
The 300,000 club members, according to Airbnb’s tally, are a relatively small subset of Airbnb’s more than 4 million hosts.
The clubs seemed somewhat independent in their early days, but Airbnb has dropped that narrative a couple of years ago. For the formation of the new club in Amsterdam in December 2016, for example, Airbnb stated: “We are excited to see what they will plan in the near future. The club is part of an exciting worldwide movement and it’s great to see its commencement in Amsterdam.”
A 2021 University of Manchester report said: “Home Sharing Clubs are associations of selected Airbnb landlords who are resourced, mobilized and coordinated by Airbnb public policy teams to advocate for favorable regulation.”
Airbnb didn’t provide a comment about the job posting
Australia’s Federal Court has ordered Airbnb to pay about $10 million ($15 million Australian) in penalties after violating consumer protection laws through misleading pricing, said the country’s competition watchdog on Wednesday.
Delta Air Lines is growing in enemy territory.
The Summer Olympics are returning to Paris exactly a century after it last hosted the event. A country where fine wine and haute cuisine prevail means Paris doesn’t have a reputation for being particularly affordable. To make the Games more accessible, some events around the Seine will have free viewing zones – including the opening ceremony. But we’re still living in a material world and you’ll need to pay the rental on your humble flat. With nightly rates circling $150 or less, these are the most budget-friendly Airbnbs for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The past year has seen a flurry of cabins crop up near the shores of Broken Bow Lake in southeast Oklahoma. Cloaked in pine and pawpaw trees, this rural region likely has a higher permanent population of black bears and bald eagles than people. Fishing, hiking, and boating have maintained steady tourism but the recent boom in new chalets has put the teensy hamlet of Hochatown on the map, literally. Airbnb is credited with creating this vacation bubble in the aftermath of the pandemic as travelers in OK and TX seek countryside getaways closer to home.
Airbnb settled a tax dispute with Italy for around $620 million (576 million euros), the company said Wednesday.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is joining with Infecar (Feria de Gran Canaria) to identify entrepreneurs playing a key role in reshaping the hotel and new business model landscapes.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, December 6. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
If you’ve read the various hot takes on the state of the housing market as indexed by Airbnb revenue, here are a few concerns you can put to rest. What will happen to the housing market in a recession is anybody’s guess, but speaking purely of Airbnb as a stock, the company has a few things going for it.
Airbnb recently reminded hosts that it plans to shutter its email alias feature September 30. The feature enables hosts and guests to email and share documents, such as PDFs of property guides, passports and other IDs from their regular emails accounts without having to log into Airbnb.
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, who left his full-time role at the company a year ago, has sold more than $1.37 billion worth of his Class A shares since that time, including more than $1 billion so far in 2023, according to regulatory filings, Bloomberg reported. Gebbia still chairs the non-profit Airbnb.org, but more importantly, he retains the bulk — but not all — of his Class B shares, which now give him 19.8% of Airbnb’s voting power. Together with his two other co-founders, CEO Brian Chesky (30.6%) and Chief Strategy Officer Nathan Blecharczyk (26.9%), they control 77.3% of Airbnb’s voting power.
A New York state court judge dismissed an Airbnb lawsuit against New York City, ruling the city had a right to require host registration and licenses, and that it was reasonable to require that Airbnb — and other platforms — verify that listings have licenses, or face penalties.
Hungary’s short-term rental hosts who offer their properties on Amsterdam-based Booking.com haven’t been paid for several months, leaving some having to decide whether they’ll need to shutter their businesses, according to published reports.