Airbnb launches Miami TV ad campaign amid city crackdown

Much like it has in New York, New Orleans and Seattle, Airbnb recently launched a television ad campaign in Miami to change the public’s perception of the short-term rental listing service.

The nearly $1 million campaign includes videos and radio ads, both in English and Spanish, that feature a handful of Airbnb hosts explaining how they’ve come to rely on income from short-term rentals.

According to the Miami Herald, this is Airbnb’s first large-scale effort to advocate for itself locally. The hosts in the ads are from Wynwood and Pinecrest, essentially sidestepping Airbnb’s conflict with Miami Beach, where short-term rentals are illegal in all single-family homes and certain zones. It’s also the city where the majority of Airbnb’s local listings are located.

Miami is the country’s fourth-most popular city for home sharing, and therefore is one of Airbnb’s most important markets.

Though the ads began airing around the same time Miami Beach began its crackdown against short-term rentals by imposing steep fines of $20,000 per offense, a representative for Airbnb said the campaign had been in the works for months. As The Real Deal reported last month, the city has imposed just under $1.6 million worth of fines over the past five months.

“We continue to have productive conversations with Miami Beach policymakers and are committed to working together to create clear, fair rules that work for everyone,” Benjamin Breit, a spokesman for Airbnb, told the Herald. [Miami Herald] — Sean Stewart-Muniz