From check-in convenience to check-out chaos: Italy’s Airbnb crackdown

Italy’s new law means no more late-night check-ins at Airbnb properties. With tighter regulations looming, is this the end of an era for automated stays?

Have you ever taken that super early morning or late night flight and thanked the heavens for self-check-ins? Well, in Italy that will be no more, as legislation has just been passed to bring back the days of direct landlord interaction.

The reasons cited for this are to combat terrorism, especially as the country is to hold the Vatican's Holy Jubilee Year in 2025 and the Winter Olympics in Cortina in 2026.

Having personally visited Trieste recently and witnessed armed guards outside synagogues, this makes sense.

The self-check-in model has become a key feature for vacations in an increasingly transactional world. However, in November, Florence passed a local bylaw, meaning that a ban on keyboxes was issued.

This stiff ruling will put extra strain on hosts, as a sizable number of them will have day jobs and may have to hire extra staff to welcome guests.

Also, travelers who prefer the autonomy of self-check-in will find narrower flexibility and potentially increased costs due to this extra effort required on the owner's part.

Whether this represents a major obstacle for Airbnb remains to be seen. In the past, the company has managed to pivot quickly in the face of adversity, for example, focusing on longer-term stays during the pandemic when regulations became increasingly stringent.

There is also a broader goal here. The legislation can be seen as a safeguard to local residential buildings, preventing them from getting bought out, pimped out, and rented out – something that has driven up prices in other European cities like Lisbon.

On the whole, Europe is becoming quite resistant to rampant tourism, as demonstrated by protests in hotbeds like Spain's San Sebastián.

Assuming countries like Spain follow suit with Italy’s legislation, we may see a welcome reversion back to human-to-human exchanges, which in turn might allow for more word-of-mouth recommendations for places like restaurants and local sites.

Similar laws were passed in Berlin and Paris in 2016 and 2017 respectively, long before the pandemic. To this day, there is heated debate about the impact that cracking down on short-term rentals has on the industry.

While Italy’s move to ban self-check-ins may feel like a tough call for Airbnb, it’s also a reminder that when it comes to short-term rentals, even the most popular platforms need to be careful not to outstay their welcome.