The property rentals company has faced backlash for pricing out local residents in popular holiday destinations but Theo Yedinsky - the firm's vice-president for public policy - claims that Airbnb is the victim of "scapegoating" by local authorities in cities across the continent and the hotel industry is equally culpable for overtourism.

Yedinsky told the Financial Times: "We end up getting a lot of the blame, especially in city centres (but) the reality is overtourism is really driven by the hotels.

"It is totally unfair."

Yedinsky's comments reinforced Airbnb's findings which argue that hotels "and other similar accomodations" account for nearly 80 per cent of guests nights in the European Union (EU).

The news follows a weekend in which thousands of protesters gathered in major cities around southern Europe to demonstrate against overtourism.

In Barcelona, protestors were seen carrying banners emblazoned with slogans such as "your holiday, my misery" and "mass tourism kills the city".

The protestors argue that overtourism results in negative consequences for the economy and environment while also having social and cultural drawbacks, as local people claim they are being priced out of their own areas because of rising rents and the conversion of homes to short-term rentals.

Yedinsky argues in response: "I think the Mayor of Barcelona needs to look at the construction of hotels, he needs to look at hotels in general... and they need to build more housing.

"They are scapegoating Airbnb. They are attacking a fraction of the problem and then wondering why it's not getting better."