Gloveler

Gloveler is a peer to peer marketplace for vacation renting of private accommodation. Founded in 2009 in the Karlsruhe, Germany it is one of the first German companies in this market.

The idea for the business was born in a business plan competition for the now extinct NewBizCup which took place in Stuttgart in the year 2007. Armin Harbrecht, Andreas Sperber y Marco Umfahrer presented the first version of gloveler's business plan obtaining the second place. In 2009 the company was founded and was awarded the special price granted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of the CyberChapion competition organized by the CyberForum. The company started operating the same year on the KIT rooms.

Some German cities have considered the possibility of introducing diverse tourism-related taxes. The implementation of this taxes has proved to be especially complicated in cities like Freiburg im Breisgau and Dortmund as it includes not only hotels but also private accommodations. These cities demand the involved firms to hand over information about their hosts in order to fight tax evasion. For now, gloveler has refused to provide the solicited information claiming that their users are being put under suspicion of tax evasion which violates the principle of presumption of innocence. The companies involved in this activities and the users have also shown the discomfort claiming these laws violate the information privacy laws.

Various German cities have discussed the possibility of introducing regulation to regulate the renting of living space for short periods of time. The most notable case is in Berlin where the city is fighting to contain the rising rent cost. Since the 1st of May 2016, Berlin residents will not be able to rent their apartments or holiday homes for short term rentals. Renting empty rooms of an apartment is still permitted if the tenant or the owner use 50% or more of it. Hosts who breach this new law will be fined with up to €100.000. Users and companies involved have protested against this law. Meanwhile, gloveler has accused this law of being used as symbolic policy and has claimed that the solution to the increasing rent is to build more housing.