Industry trade body the American Hotel and Lodging Association has again taken aim at the sharing economy, claiming 28.5% of revenue from Airbnb stays is generated by ‘illegal’ full time hosts.
The ‘Air Mattresses to Unregulated Business: An Analysis of the Other Side of Airbnb’ report was conducted by Penn State University’s School of Hospitality Management over more than a year, and found almost one-third of revenue came from hosts who rent out units at least 360 days per year.
The study looked at the market in the nation’s 12 largest metro areas including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Miami.
It also said hosts with multiple properties account for 40% of revenue, and are the fastest growing host segment on Airbnb.
"A significant and growing percentage of Airbnb’s revenue comes from those with multiple residential properties rented out on a full-time rental basis. These corporate landlords dodge taxes, skirt the laws and flout safety standards," said AH&LA CEO Katherine Lugar.
Airbnb claimed the AH&LA study was flawed an misleading.
"This report uses misleading data to make false claims and attack middle-class families who share their homes and use the money they earn to pay the bills," said Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas.
"The overwhelming majority of Airbnb hosts are middle-class people who occasionally share only the home in which they live and while Airbnb hosts keep 97% of the price they charge for their listings, hotels take most of the money they earn out of the community."
