Sustainable Tourism Law

DRAFT UNWTO CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION OF TOURISTS 389 The host guarantee that the host will be protected to the maximum amount of $1.000.000,00 (approximately €800.000,00) for the damages suffered in the event of user damages its property; The host protection insurance. Upon completion of a contract between the intermediary and the host, this insurance will operates automatically. It has no costs for the host and covers the damages suffered by the user in host’s house to the maximum amount of $1.000.000,00 (approximately €800.000,00). It is therefore important to analyse the real protection host and user got from these instruments. And nothing better than real life to do so. In July 2016, in Brighton, United Kingdom, four friends rented out from Airbnb a flat in that city. When the group was standing in the balcony of the flat, the balcony collapsed, and they fell into the ground floor. Fortunately, and miraculously, no one died. But all of them have suffered serious injuries. Fig. 2 Brighton, July 2016 As this event happened, the first statement from Airbnb has been to deny liability over the Brighton balcony collapse. Airbnb said “as soon as we were aware of the incident, we reached out to the guest to provide support, and We provide all hosts in the UK with Host Protection Insurance which provides insurance coverage for up to $1 million in the rare event of an injury” , but victims saw it in a different manner: “It’s like they don’t care. They haven’t provided us with anything: acknowledgement, apology or financial support for our ongoing needs”. Airbnb insists it does not provide accommodation but operates as a platform on which independent hosts provide rooms for guests. It says it is not linked to any bookings and, therefore, cannot be held responsible. The main argument here is that, as a platform, they are not responsible. On the other hand, the