[magduf]

>AirBnB has priced locals out of their own housing markets. Just ask Venice.

AirBnB can be good and bad. I used AirBnB in Germany last year because the hotel rates in Nuremberg were ridiculous because it was tourist season; I stayed at a private home, in an extra bedroom that used to be their kid's room (now moved out). It was a great experience: I saved a bunch of money, I got to see a small town outside the main city that I otherwise wouldn't have seen (not really much to see there, but it was good seeing someplace "normal" that tourists never see), and I got to talk to the homeowner with his broken English and my broken German. I wouldn't have had an experience like that in a hotel, and there was no negative effect on the housing for locals since I was only renting an unused bedroom, not a whole house. This, to me, is what AirBnB is really supposed to be about.

[Mediterraneo10]

The vast majority of AirBnB listings now are managed properties. You can still find a family renting out a spare room, but that is gradually disappearing and ever less what AirBnB is about.