Airbnb – bringing hosts and guests closer together

Speaking in India Nathan Blecharczyk told the BBC the willingness of people to stay in the home of a stranger showed the demand for personal connections while travelling.

Airbnb enables travellers to “experience a place like you live there” – in 191 countries and 34,000 cities. “What we’ve demonstrated is there’s an immense appetite to travel more authentically and immerse yourself in culture… as opposed to having a commoditised experience,”

Airbnb is planning to bring hosts and guests closer together:

“Maybe that’s someone going for a bike ride on their favourite bike route or doing a game of Frisbee, something as simple as that,” he said.

“But connecting with real people having a good time, that’s something not currently available in the professionalised world of hospitality.” More

Co-founder Blecharczyk on responsibility: 
“The responsibility is between guest and host, ultimately,” Blecharczyk says. What Airbnb has, in place of responsibility, is an investment. “If trust is compromised, our brand gets hit, trust in homeshare gets hit. And so we have a vested interest to make sure such things don’t happen. And if they do, to take care of it.”   More

From May 1st in Berlin private tourism rentals are being limited by a new law known as Zweckentfremdungsverbot – prohibition of improper use

“The law, which allows homeowners to rent out only spare rooms rather than entire homes, was passed in 2014 but included a two-year transition period that has now elapsed.

Andreas Geisel, Berlin’s head of urban development said it was “a necessary and sensible instrument against the housing shortage in Berlin.”

Those caught breaking the new law could be fined up to 100,000 euros (£78,500). More