Air BnB makes short term rentals profitable, a lot of people own property on debt and pay it with airbnb profits, if that dries up, they will sell. They'll have to. Hotels are one of the most significant sources of tax revenue in tourist locations, airbnb offer lower prices because they circumvent the tax system and don't pay a tax rate similar to hotels, the government wants the tourist at hotels. Period.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 27 points 5 months ago (2 children)

People need to understand that when a tech company is "disrupting" it means they're exploiting legal loopholes.

[–] WanderingVentra@lemm.ee 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Reminds me of Stavros's bit on tech companies.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 4 points 5 months ago

Omg this is hilarious

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 months ago

lol! That’s great.

Imagine if Uber had done it ethically. All the app, none of the shady. Would’ve been a WAY slower start but I want to believe the excellent technology would’ve been enough for them to win. No “broken” card readers, no scamming women in countries with foreign currency (former colleague’s anecdote), no having to lie to get the driver to let you in before telling them later your real destination, reduced racial discrimination…

Also since Google thinks this is OK:

http://m.youtube.com/shorts/RZJfBEvt51g?feature=share&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&source_ve_path=[tracker?IDK]&feature

reduced it to the usual (/ working Piped mirror)

[–] Censored@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think people are starting to catch on to that. Maybe I'm overly optimistic though.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 months ago

My gut says you're overly optimistic lol

[–] Censored@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

AirBNB pays taxes too. They don't circumvent the system in Barcelona, that was fixed a long time ago. Now they just displace locals because the nightly rate is higher than the monthly rate. Even if it's empty most of the time. Which is a real shame.