As a foreigner living in Switzerland, it can feel the same. Driving with a Swiss it's like "are we in Liechtenstein yet?" because you'd never know it otherwise.
It must not come with legislative powers, because at $70K per night, that's only $25.55M a year. The GDP of Lichtenstein is 5.05B according to a quick google search (google for "lichetenstein gdp" and you get a result from google public data sources). I'll pay $25.55M for the right to tax the people of Lichtenstein for one year! Even if I only raise taxes 1%, that's a cool $25M profit!
1. The buyer. He benefits from a unique and authentic experience. He amazes his audience because he doesn't just rent a hotel or a room, but a whole location and customize it to fit.
2. The seller. $70K/day, if they get booked 50 times a year that's $3.5 million. The country habitants benefits too from the incoming tourists and currency.
3. AirBnb. It's like having 1,000 clients in one time.
I doubt you're their target market for renting a country. If you can drop 70k for a night without breaking a sweat, feel free to tell me I'm wrong.
Given this is a partnership with Xnet, and:
>Rent a Village by Xnet partners with these destinations to transform them into highly customized settings for events, corporate retreats, conferences, and more.
I imagine this is more about "events" than a single person renting a country so they can sleep in it for the night. But that, too, is a possibility, if they wanted to just so they could say they did.
"An island", not really (usually). "A village" or "an entire country", that's a bit harder - people live there. The location's purpose isn't entirely to be rented. Tourism, absolutely, but not temporary ownership.
What exactly is your question? I admit I can't imagine spending $70k/night on entertaining my guests, but Googling for "airbnb liechtenstein" or variations shows that this has already got them a good amount of press, including e.g. TechCrunch. If they're lucky, and good, they may even get mentioned in the trivia section of a big newspaper.
Somehow this feels like the uncanny valley of human reality. Along the lines of renting a family for the afternoon, or a puppy for a walk, only on a massive scale.
I once had a dream that I was the king of the city, and they marched in parade to honor my name. No wait, that was last weekend in Leichtenstein at SuperBlingFest2012.
Compare to your average room at your average Holiday Inn Express, which is 25 square metres and rents for $100 a night. That's four million dollars per square km. Liechtenstein is a bargain!
I'd guess: a parade, meeting the mayor, key to city/country, some dedicated accommodation, organisational support in running a major event, etc. Think of it more as a novel way to host a massive launch event or corporate end-of-year party than actually running the country for a day.
I'm in. Now we better be getting our money's worth! Now that I think about it. 1 day for a country for 70k is fine. Means we can throw one fucking helluva party!
Not absolutely sure what the fine print is, but $70,000 is a bargain for such a huge cOncert venue. invite all your favorite bands to play in towns named after then and streets named after the songs.
It's actually a pretty good deal. The country sleeps 500 so that comes to about $140 per night. This is comparable to rates on Kayak for the cheapest 4 star hotels in nearby Zurich.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/mar/02/markoliver http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/opinion/13iht-edstamm.4893...