A new online ad by home-sharing service Airbnb has been pulled after sparking outrage on social media.
The ad, which was posted on Facebook, depicted a family vacationing in Oahu. After telling their Airbnb host they want to see Hawaii's famed sea turtles, the host provided suggestions on where to go.
A subsequent shot showed the family swimming with the turtles and touching them, an act that is expressly prohibited in Hawaii.
While the ad has been removed from Facebook, it is pouring fire on an already heated debate about vacation rentals, according to Hawaii News Now.
Mike Biechler, the executive director of Friends Against Illegal Rentals, worries that this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the largely unregulated activities of Airbnb hosts.
"You're going to have more people saying, 'I can show you a cool place no one knows. I can take you to this spot where you can do this thing you couldn't do,'" he said.
On Friday Airbnb released a public apology, saying it "deeply [regrets] the actions captured in this post and expects all hosts and visitors to respect local wildlife and apologizes for sharing a video that falls short of those standards. We will take steps to further educate our community on proper guidelines for interacting with local marine life."
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, fines for disturbing green sea turtles can run from several hundred dollars up to $100,000. In some cases, offenders are even subject to imprisonment for up to a year.
Airbnb has been at the center of numerous controversies this year as local communities around the world struggle with concerns that increased usage of residential spaces for services such as Airbnb is reducing the availability of affordable housing. Hoteliers in many of these same communities are also waging war with Airbnb, which they say is forcing them to slash room rates and lay off employees.
Earlier this year, the New York Times uncovered an integrated strategy by the American Hotel and Lodging Association to limit Airbnb activities by ensuring "comprehensive legislation in key markets around the country."
Airbnb, says the AHLA ad campaign, is about a "hotel cartel" that "is intent on short-sheeting the middle class so they can keep price-gouging customers."
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