Traditional hoteliers are going to war on Airbnb.
The New York Times, citing minutes from a meeting of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, reports that the trade group has engaged in a “multipronged, national campaign approach at the local, state and federal level” to limit Airbnb’s expansion. The campaign involves lobbying government officials and financing studies that show that Airbnb hosts are effectively running hotels out of residential buildings despite not being subject to the same regulatory standards as the hotel industry.
“Airbnb is operating a lodging industry, but it is not playing by the same rules,” a spokesperson for the trade group told The Times.
Airbnb, which has increasingly become a threat to the hotel industry, said the campaign shows that “the hotel cartel is intent on short-sheeting the middle class so they can keep price-gouging consumers.”