One of the three co-founders of Airbnb, the tourist apartment platform created in 2008 in San Francisco, was in Barcelona this Tuesday and stayed in one of the apartments advertised on its application. “I don’t usually say that I’m one of the bosses, because people get nervous,” explained Nathan Blecharczyk in the conference he gave at the Smart City Expo World Congress, held at the Fira de Barcelona facilities in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. His talk has drawn attention among attendees, in a city where 171,000 tourists stay every day (of them, more than 44,000 in tourist apartments according to a study by the University of Girona with data from 2019), and where the serious problem of Access to housing has strained the relationship between neighbors and the tourism sector. “Our platform is not what has the most impact on the housing problem,” he defended.
After the downturn of the pandemic, Airbnb’s income and profits have skyrocketed after a summer of full activity: the company obtained a net result in the third quarter alone of 1,605 million dollars (31% more than in the same period of the previous year), and its income shot up 18%, to 3,397 million dollars. The platform founded by Brian Chesky (who is its executive director), Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk has all the muscle necessary to face a wave of regulations that in different parts of the planet is trying to limit its activity.
Restrictions such as the one approved in New York in September or those in force in Portugal or Barcelona leave Airbnb and other platforms without room to operate in cities. This same Tuesday, Catalonia approved a decree to limit the granting of licenses for tourist apartments, both in number and in the duration of the permits. Also this Tuesday, Italy has ordered the seizure of 780 million from the platform for alleged tax evasion. In early October, the CEO acknowledged to Bloomberg that the company is “organizing the house,” and noted as a priority maintaining low prices, in the face of hotel prices that have generally risen.
“The company is in a very strong position and we have fully recovered from the pandemic. What we learned then is that we could not do everything, we had to prioritize and focus on what is the essence of our business,” explained Blecharczyk in his conference, a conversation with Mar Galtés, director of corporate development at the Tech Barcelona association. . The essence of the business is to offer tourist apartments, whether entire or just a room, a model that has led them to be present in more than 100,000 cities and to have more than seven million active ads.
Blecharczyk has said he is aware of the impact that his activity generates in cities: “They are very intense challenges for communities, the issue of housing is very complex. But many studies say that Airbnb activity is not what has the most impact on access to affordable housing. There are more important factors such as the area or urban planning. They are major structural problems, which if they are not addressed, they will not improve,” she summarized. The co-founder of Airbnb has also stated that the problem of tourist overcrowding in some cities is a problem of the sector, not of a specific platform: “In Venice, for example, Airbnb welcomes only 4% of tourists, or in Amsterdam at 5%. We are not big enough to solve the problem alone, it is a sector issue.”
Blecharczyk has defended that many of its users “need the income” that comes from being able to rent a room or a residence, and has stated that Airbnb allows tourism to be taken outside of city centers, where most hotels are located. “Regulation has existed for a long time, in 80% of the cities where we are, the activity is regulated and it is something that we ask for. At first, we wanted to talk to the city of New York about it, but we were too small, now they do regulate it but in practice they leave us out,” he explained, to elaborate on the consequences of the measure: “What we have seen It has been a mass exodus of ads to other platforms that are not as transparent, a gray market. We have also seen price increases and there is no data that the rental supply has increased. “It has not led to any change in this regard.” However, he has assured that the company supports the regulation that the European Commission is working on, and has highlighted the good relationship it has even with cities that have limited their activity: “The relationship with Barcelona is very positive, now there is more trust and we want to design a future together.”
Follow all the information Economy and Business in Facebook and xor in our weekly newsletter
The Five Day agenda
The most important economic quotes of the day, with the keys and context to understand their scope.
RECEIVE IT IN YOUR EMAIL
#Nathan #Blecharczyk #cofounder #Airbnb #generate #impact #housing #problem