Airbnb, a popular and controversial online based home rental service is now expanding its operations for American tourists in Cuba. The use of the service in New York City had serious implications for the hospitality and rental markets. Landlords threatened tenants with eviction for their short term lease of their rooms.
Airbnb announced that they would be expanding operations for U.S citizens to book rooms in Cuba starting last Thursday. This expansion does not come without a caveat, U.S travelers can only visit under one of the 12 U.S approved categories of legal travel. Travelers can now fill out an honor form in regards to reasons for traveling to Cuba.
According to alJazeera’s report, this is the most noteworthy expansion of an American business in Cuba since the attempts to reestablish diplomatic ties began last year. As a result of these talks, the prohibitive trade embargo has become more lax on restrictions for businesses.
In the past three months, Airbnb has sent representatives to Cuba to enlist homeowners to list their properties. There are currently over 1000 properties listed on the Airbnb now with the majority in Havana and Cienfuegos.
One major facet of Cuba’s economy is tourism, especially private rooms and houses for tourists. Airbnb could bolster small business in Cuba. Airbnb has not faced any resistance for either the Cuban or American authorities.
While Airbnb sounds promising, a major concern that threatens the usability of the website is limited internet access for most Cubans as previously reported and has already created concerns. Skift has reported that five Airbnb profiles have been identified as the holders of 689 listings on the site. Michael, Jorge, Fatima, Luis, and Raul are all in charge of these listings. Airbnb had to release a statement that offered an explanation as to why these five were in charge of the properties. They explained the Cuban Five as “hosting partners” that acted as a middleman for homeowners due to the lack of access to internet.
This monopoly of “hosting partners” due to lack of internet access for most homeowners that would be posting on the site poses significant questions of whether or not these transactions are authorized. As American tourism increases in Cuba, it is crucial to be mindful of the possibility for these “hosting partners” to exploit fellow Cubans as they attempt to connect homeowners with the site. Especially as Skift reported that “most users are not Internet savvy.”
http://skift.com/2015/04/07/5-airbnb-cuba-hosts-manage-half-of-the-islands-inventory/
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/2/airbnb-rentals-for-us-travellers-to-cuba.html
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