Wait...Airbnb is a Reason to Say "No?"

Feasibility is at the core of every hotel development. Will the property be able to be sustainable, given other factors in the marketplace?

So, you look at historic, present and future demand, at the competition, the budget of the Destination Marketing Organization, the anticipated growth of the region's economy and a number of other markers.

Twenty-some years ago, as Madison was looking to build its Frank Lloyd Wright designed Convention Center, feasibility experts cautioned that the simultaneous development of an adjacent headquarter hotel could spell disaster for one of the other existing downtown hotels. Wait three years, they said, until the market demand stabilizes. And, because we cared for the hotels that had been our partners for decades, we did.

So, you can imagine my surprise at a headline over the weekend that read: "Danville has the Market for Downtown Hotel, but it could harm Airbnbs."

Pardon me?

Don't get me wrong. I think Airbnb is a wonderful addition to our destination experiences...IF they are required to play by the same rules as hotels.

But, in what alternate universe would any community consider not pursuing a Downtown hotel because it might pose a threat to a disruptive platform that allows people to rent their homes? 

Yeah...the alternative universe in which we live.

 

Comments

[Peter Bowden]

You’ve got that right. Airbnb provides a benefit but the business model is terribly flawed in essence making them not an ideal partner. In our community we’ve calculated that there is some $200,000 in uncollected taxes (up from approximately $92,000 is a little over a year). And we’ve seen “entrepreneurs” buying up houses and flipping them into short term rental properties. Bad idea. And let’s not overlook proposed state legislation that would prohibit local communities from policing short term rentals altogether.