The Hotel Beau Rivage, Biloxi, Mississippi
The hotel industry doesn’t like short-term rentals.
The hotel industry has long opposed competition. The rise of the internet and the rapid growth of short-term rental platforms intensified that opposition.
Rather than focusing primarily on expanding hotel development, many major hotel companies now devote substantial resources to curbing the growth of short-term rentals nationwide.
These efforts are often coordinated through lobbying groups, such as the federal and state Hotel and Lodging Associations. These organizations represent large corporate brands — including Hilton, Marriott, MGM Resorts, and Caesars — and their core objective is to increase industry revenue. Limiting short-term rentals is a key strategy for maintaining hotel control over local lodging markets.
Antitrust law exists to prevent exactly this type of behavior.
Federal antitrust laws are designed to preserve fair competition by prohibiting conduct that suppresses market entry or artificially inflated prices. They exist to prevent monopolistic behavior, protect consumers from higher costs, and ensure a healthy marketplace with diverse choices.
Yet in several jurisdictions, hotel industry groups and local governments have collaborated to enact policies that effectively eliminate short-term rentals, even in owner-occupied homes.
Collusive conduct shields incumbent hotel operators from competition and burdens both
homeowners and consumers.
Biloxi, Mississippi, is one of the clearest and most troubling examples.
Biloxi demonstrates how government and industry can collude to stifle competition.
Biloxi’s City Council has seven members, one of whom — Councilman Kenny Glavan — is also
the President of the Mississippi Hotel and Lodging Association and an executive affiliated with multiple hotels in Biloxi. Despite this obvious conflict of interest, Mr. Glavan repeatedly pushed for strict short-term rental regulations without recusing himself.
Local reporting at the time noted that in Biloxi, “the lobbyists literally are the government,” and the city’s policymaking process reflected it.
Under the ordinances advanced in part by Mr. Glavan, Biloxi dramatically expanded restrictions on short-term rentals. The city went even further by giving the Hotel and Lodging
Association — the industry’s own trade group — a formal role in handling permit applications. As a result, short-term rental applicants were forced to submit requests directly to their would-be competitors.
This arrangement is the opposite of a fair regulatory system. By restricting or preventing market entry, the city and the hotel lobby effectively insulated existing hotels from competition. Such conduct predictably harms consumers through higher prices, fewer lodging options, and lower overall quality.
Between 2015 — the last year before Biloxi began implementing these restrictions — and 2025, average daily room rates in Biloxi rose by more than 50 percent. Rather than protecting residents or preserving housing, these policies functioned to enrich hotel incumbents.
Airbnb has sued Biloxi for violating federal antitrust laws
Airbnb and a local Biloxi host recently filed suit against the city in Airbnb, Inc. and Patrice Perillo v. City of Biloxi, alleging violations of federal antitrust laws. This appears to be the first case in which plaintiffs argue that a local government, in coordination with incumbent hotel operators, conspired to block short-term rentals from competing in the lodging market.
The litigation will be important to watch. It raises fundamental questions about the limits of
municipal regulatory authority, the proper role of industry participants in policymaking, and
whether local governments may lawfully delegate regulatory power to the very entities that stand to benefit from restricting competition.
A call for sensible, competition-focused policy
Travelers United hopes policymakers and the public pay close attention to this case. The
situation in Biloxi illustrates the dangers of allowing industry lobbyists to influence — or in some cases directly administer — regulatory frameworks aimed at governing their competitors.
Short-term rental policy should support fair competition. They should protect consumer choice. They should also allow homeowners to participate in the lodging market without facing barriers created to benefit established hotel interests.
The Biloxi case makes clear that many current policies fail these basic principles. It is time for a more reasonable, transparent, and competition-friendly approach to short-term rental regulation.
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Lauren joined Travelers United in 2015. Founded Kill Resort Fees, the only site devoted to ending hidden hotel resort fees. Armed with an arsenal of frequent flyer miles and some extreme budgeting skills, Lauren traveled around the world through 37 countries. Accomplishments include eating at the world’s largest restaurant in Syria, bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls Bridge on the Zambia/Zimbabwe border, running into Anthony Bourdain at a Mexican restaurant in Cambodia and cage diving with Great White Sharks in South Africa.
