Ten years after its founding Airbnb is facing pushback in several markets and one of its founders, Joe Gebbia, says his company can cope with regulations.
The design expert, whose wealth has been put by Forbes at $US3.8 billion ($NZ5.6b), said other inventions and innovations took some time to be widely accepted.
Queenstown is among the latest in a growing list of tourist hotspots, including London, New York and Paris to restrict the number of bed nights private residents were permitted to offer short term accommodation. In Queenstown the long-term rental stock market has been hit by the number of short-term rentals, meaning there is less accommodation for workers in the booming tourism town.
While Gebbia was not prepared to comment on whether his company was being singled out he said: "In general we believe in regulation - just as long as it is fair and balanced."
Gebbia has been in Australia meeting top hosts there.
He has also spoken to this country's new tourism minister Kelvin Davis.The two talked about sustainable tourism which includes the role Airbnb can play in helping avert the need for more tourism infrastructure.