BEIRUT — The president of the Lebanese Hotel Union has accused Airbnb of waging "a kind of war" on the hotel sector by operating in an "unregulated and uncontrolled" manner, causing further difficulties for a hospitality industry already strained by the regional effects of Israel's war on Gaza and the cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

"Airbnb has seen significant growth in recent years, and has around 10,000 rooms of varying levels and in key locations in the capital, Mount Lebanon, and various other Lebanese regions," Pierre Achkar said, cited by the National News Agency (NNA), though he did not specify the source of this information.

Achkar argues that the way Airbnb operates constitutes "unfair competition" and threatens jobs in the hotel sector as well as in guesthouses. He also criticized its operators for paying fewer taxes than hotels or none at all. He also raised security concerns, saying that since Airbnb renters are not registered with General Security, there are fewer checks and regulations on their services.

"The government and all relevant authorities must regulate this sector by requiring its operators to obtain municipal authorization, a tax number, and registration with General Security," he emphasized.

The hotel sector as a whole benefited the least from the uptick in tourism to Lebanon last summer, prior to the outbreak of the war on Gaza. One factor could be that the majority of visitors were from the diaspora, traveling home to visit their families, but platforms such as Airbnb also have a significant effect.

According to Ernst & Young, the occupancy rate for luxury hotels in the capital was recorded at 41 percent in 2023, the lowest among the 13 Arab cities surveyed. It fluctuated between 53 percent and 65 percent from June to August before falling to 31.5 percent in September.

For comparison, the average occupancy rate for the same segment of hotels was 61.7 percent throughout 2019, the year Lebanon's economic crisis began, with occupancy rates ranging between 69 percent and 72 percent from June to September of that year.