[sebastiennight]

My feeling is that this is similar to saying, "non-professional AirBnB hosts are a terrible security nightmare, and the fact that people are not much safer in regulated hotels is no excuse to encourage even less security by encouraging novices to play in the hospitality business".

I agree with you on the downsides.

[namaria]

AirBnB externality is not the safety risk for guests (although I personally ended up in some sketchy situations years ago, I don't use it anymore, mainly because:) the real externality is imposed on the inhabitants of popular tourist destinations.

There was a reason the industry was regulated, and circumventing these reasons with an app has been a net negative to society.