A recent report by the American Hotel & Lodging Association shows a growing number of Airbnb hosts are commercial operators, illegal hotels that bypass regulation and taxes.
A follow-up of the national report shows that the trend is going on in Phoenix, with 85 percent of Airbnb hosts in Phoenix listing properties for more than 30 days a year, which accounts for $41 million of Airbnb’s local revenues.
The report also notes that 14 percent of the hosts in Phoenix are using Airbnb to rent out multiple properties, which made up 40 percent, or more than $17 million, of total revenue in the Phoenix area.
Airbnb, launched in 2008 in San Francisco, has operated in Arizona since 2009. Hosts put up a room or their home up for rent on Airbnb, essentially running a small hotel from their home, as part of the growing sharing economy, similar to ride-sharing service, Uber.
But the average host who is putting up a room every once in a while isn’t at the source of the problem the American Hotel & Lodging Association is talking about. A significant and growing part of Airbnb’s Phoenix inventory is run by entities engaged in commercial activity, said Vanessa Sinders, head of government affairs at the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
These hotels operating in residential neighborhoods pose safety concerns, Sinders said. Neighbors and guests at these places have no way telling if the properties are compliant with the same health and safety regulations a normal hotel has to follow, she said.
There are commercial operators renting their place out more than 30 days a year, or in some cases 180 days a year, Sinders said. Or there are commercial operators hosting multiple properties on the service, she added.
The Lodging Association wants this data to help facilitate careful regulation that distinguishes the sharing economy from commercial abuse, she said.
But Airbnb has a problem with the data.
“This study shows that the hotel industry gets what it pays for, which in this case is a specious study intended to mislead and manipulate,” stated an Airbnb spokesperson in an email.
They mentioned that the 85 percent of listings available for 30 days or more, noted in the Lodging Association’s study, weren’t necessarily being booked by users.
Only about half of Airbnb listings in Arizona are actually booked more than 30 days, with two-thirds being booked less than 60 days, and only 6 percent are booked more than 180 days a year, according to Airbnb.
Marion Hook owns the Adobe Rose Inn Bed & Breakfast, and is the head of the Tucson Mayor’s task force on short term rentals, said this is really about everyone playing by the same rules.
“This is not about stopping short term rentals, or putting them out of business… But the key is that everyone running a hotel business is playing on a level playing field,” Hook said.
