Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • October 2016
  • Supplement
  • HBS Case Collection

Airbnb in Amsterdam (B)

By: Mitchell Weiss, Emer Moloney and Vincent Dessain
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:12
ShareBar

Abstract

In December 2014, Amsterdam and Airbnb announced an MOU to promote responsible home sharing and to simplify the payment of tourist tax for hosts in the city. It was the most comprehensive agreement that Airbnb had with any city in the world. Its final provision read, “The parties trust that theirs will be a fruitful cooperation.” However, both sides were uncertain about how the agreement would be received. Molly Turner, Airbnb’s global head of civic partnerships, and Tanja de Coster, an Airbnb lawyer in Europe, were unsure how Airbnb’s hosts would react—as were their Airbnb colleagues. Laila Frank, who had been an advisor to the Deputy Mayor in Amsterdam, heralded the reputational gains from the agreement for the city, “We were worldwide news. In that way it worked out really well.” But she acknowledged that there were also skeptical points of view. “The only immediate result was the tax agreement, which we were really happy about. But the rest had to be proven.”

Keywords

Public Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Sharing Economy; Amsterdam; Airbnb; Molly Turner; Regulation; Homesharing; Tourism; Business And Government; Public-private Partnership; Business and Government Relations; Government Administration; Public Sector; City; Urban Development; Tourism Industry; Public Administration Industry; Travel Industry; Netherlands; Europe

Citation

Weiss, Mitchell, Emer Moloney, and Vincent Dessain. "Airbnb in Amsterdam (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 817-014, October 2016.
  • Purchase

About The Author

Mitchell B. Weiss

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • December 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Iberdrola: Leading the Energy Revolution

    By: Juan Alcácer and Emer Moloney
    • November 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Hiring with the Community in Saint Paul

    By: Mitchell B. Weiss and Sarah Mehta
    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Charting a Course for Boston: Organizing for Change

    By: Lisa C. Cox, Mitchell B. Weiss and Jorrit De Jong
More from the Authors
  • Iberdrola: Leading the Energy Revolution By: Juan Alcácer and Emer Moloney
  • Hiring with the Community in Saint Paul By: Mitchell B. Weiss and Sarah Mehta
  • Charting a Course for Boston: Organizing for Change By: Lisa C. Cox, Mitchell B. Weiss and Jorrit De Jong
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College