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Since 2008, Airbnb has grown from a small business in Silicon Valley to the world's most popular short-term rental platform, with 5 million homes in 81,000 cities and 191 countries. In doing so, it has sparked controversy or even protests in many countries.
In Asia, officials have traditionally opted for a "blind" approach to informal economic activities. This owes much to the innate familiarity with the principles of what the West now calls "the shared economy". I've seen the informal economy spread over many years in Asia, since the exchange of goods and services with start-ups controlled by regulatory authorities.
A family from my neighborhood of Bangkok opened a snack bar business living room, gaining additional success through an agreement with a local massage parlor to offer guests 30-minute foot massages. Another family decided to open his house, ideally located at the exit of a main road, to people who simply wanted to "rest" to rest in air-conditioned comfort – for a price. I am sure that their income has not been reported.
But like everything else that makes serious money, the Airbnb business model, which has been hugely successful, has attracted the attention of global regulation. The battle has spread from Europe and America to Asia, which has been slow to adopt Airbnb but is quickly turning into a surprisingly tough battlefield.
In April, two Singaporean Airbnb hosts were each fined $ 60,000. renting apartments without official permission, the first case of the city-state under new short-term rental rules. In China, Airbnb said in March that it would comply with hotel regulations and pass the details of the tenants to the authorities. And in Hong Kong, the rules require that anyone taking paying guests for less than 28 days be granted a permit to ensure that the premises meet the norms of the hospitality industry.
But nowhere in Asia is the reaction more extreme and confusing than in Japan. , where about 80% of the 62,000 short-term rental properties listed in early spring have been eliminated by draconian new regulations.
Amendments to the Japanese Hostel and Hotel Act impose strict new limits allowing homeowners to rent only 180 days. a year and requiring them to sign up for a license. On June 1, shortly before the deadline of mid-June, Airbnb was ordered to cancel reservations made in unregistered residences. The company has created a $ 10 million fund to compensate tenants in distress whose vacation had been wasted by surprise repression and issued an unequivocal statement: "This stinks – and this is a euphemism", he says
. This is the increasingly desperate housing shortage in view of the country's host role for next year's Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Olympics. Private Rentals In the short term were considered a solution
It should also be noted here that Japan has traditionally maintained its own informal economy, with a booming labor industry that could be considered one of the first pioneers of TaskRabbit. online platform for odd-jobbers that was originally launched in the United States. In Japan, "nandemoya" services – mainly accessible by telephone and in the yellow pages style guides – offer everything you need: people ready to queue up for traditional shiatsu massage services in rural villages. short notice if you have drunk too much and want your car to be driven home.
It is not the limits on rental periods that have upset the Japanese market. Similar restrictions have been applied in cities such as New York and Paris. But Japan has taken much longer with licensing requirements that critics describe as expensive and unreasonable, proven by the fact that only a fraction of the previous base of Airbnb tenants had qualified in July.
. ultimate regulator for community services, have imposed even more severe restrictions, citing security or noise issues. Kyoto, for example, limits rentals in residential areas between mid-January and mid-March, the low season for tourists.
The global controversy over Airbnb and its imitating rivals is about a lot of things, including the relentless will of governments to close lucrative tax loopholes. It is also fueled by arguments that short-term rentals reduce the supply of rental housing for those who can not afford a home, while pushing home prices up. and underestimating the regulated hotel industry.
a less obvious factor behind the government's move. Few officials will admit that garbage – or garbage treatment – is a major concern.
Anyone who has lived in Japan can understand the deep concern Airbnb has raised with citizens and the government about the (sometimes) unruly lack of harmony. foreigners can bring to the local communities. Expats generally present a challenge to the national waste obsession, which consists not only of separating them into appropriate bags, but of washing them with plastic containers first and putting different kinds of waste into different days.
nominated by local communities, to govern the process. Airbnb is perceived as the ultimate disruptor of this community harmony, rather than as the quick accommodation solution that Japan needs – and, perhaps, as a force for greater internationalization.
Gwen Robinson is the editor-in-chief of the Nikkei Asian Review
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