Mexico City sets sights on Airbnb amid rental boom

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Airbnb has enjoyed a boost in Latin America’s second-largest economy, in part by catering to US citizens who have settled in the country at an unprecedented rate, and to tourists who find it convenient to visit the country given its proximity to the United States. United States and its lax covid restrictions.

Sheinbaum said he is consulting with other cities that have been through similar experiences to understand how they handled the company’s presence.

“I am talking with some mayors, with some cities that have regulated, because if it is not regulated, there will be areas that will be exclusively Airbnb”Sheinbaum told Blooomberg News in an interview Wednesday at the Old City Hall. “It can’t be either. That is going to generate a lot of problems in the city.”

Airbnb did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sheinbaum did not specify what type of regulation it was considering. He had previously said that the city government is looking into whether the housing sharing company contributes to rent increases, however he has yet to find evidence of that.

Mexico City It has more than 19,000 rentals on online platforms, including Airbnb and Vrbo, of which 65% are entire home rentals, according to industry data provider AirDNA. Airbnb is the dominant short-term rental company in the area.

Tourist arrivals by plane to Mexico increased 18.3% in November compared to the previous year, according to data from the Anahuac University tourism research center. Nearly 18 million tourists have taken flights to Mexico in the first 11 months of the year, with 67% coming from the US, the data shows.