Airbnb met with criticism following reports it boosted the Wexford economy

Travel on Airbnb was worth €13 million to the Wexford economy in 2022, according to a new independent report from Oxford Economics, commissioned by Airbnb.

In Wexford alone, the total number of guest nights booked on Airbnb in 2022 was 137,000. However, Airbnb's Irish economic impact report has been met with criticism accusing the platform of facilitating too many short term letting's in rent pressure zones. Dr. Rory Hearne, Assistant Professor in Social Policy at Maynooth University says they should look at how it's impacted the housing market: "We know that between 12-16,000 entire homes are being used on Airbnb and other short term rental platforms, that's 12 times the number of entire homes that are available on Daft." He went on to point out the issues faced by students: "Students are really struggling to find accommodation which will result in huge commutes or even not taking up their places in third level education."