NYC Hotels Will Get More Expensive Due to New Rental Regulations, Airbnb CEO Says

CEO Brian Chesky weighs in on the recent vacation rental rules set by New York City.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says that visiting — and living in — New York City will be more expensive after the Big Apple passed new regulations for booking vacation rentals.

"One year from now, my prediction is that hotel prices will be higher than they are today and rents will also be higher," Chesky said during a panel at Skift Global Forum in New York City. "I think that's unfortunate because it'll be a little less accessible."

The regulations, which passed in September, require hosts to register their listings with the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement and require booking platforms — including Vrbo, HomeAway, and others — to ban any unregistered listings. The regulation also limits hosts to 30-day rentals.

For context, Chesky noted that listings in Paris, which is home to Airbnb's largest presence, have a 120-night limit.

"Unfortunately, New York is no longer leading the way," he said, noting that at one point the city was the "majority of our business," but now refers to the metro as a "cautionary tale."

For travelers who book with an unregistered renter in New York City, their reservation will be canceled after Dec. 1 of this year. Hosts could also face fines of $5,000 while the platform faces a fine of $1,500 per transaction.

While touting the ways that Airbnb has cooperated with the city of New York in the past — by paying taxes and preventing parties — he warned that the regulations will have a consequence for everyday New Yorkers who were "depending on Airbnb to pay their rent and mortgage."

Looking at the big picture, Chesky said he "never felt like for Airbnb to win, hotels had to lose," noting that when it comes to accommodations for travelers, the naturally two overlap. However, he said that when it comes to groups of friends and families and those who want longer stays, "Airbnb allows a whole bunch of people to travel that weren't traveling."

For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.