The European Commission will demand more transparency from tourist accommodation rental platforms such as Airbnb. Brussels suggests that records of short-term rental and travelers be implemented and will not allow booking pages to publish homes that are not registered or not authorized by national authorities. The action comes after years of complaints from hoteliers who have been denouncing the “competitive disadvantage” they operate in with regard to tourist apartments.
With this view, the European Commission wants to “help public authorities to ensure balanced development as an element of the sustainability of the tourism sector”. They point out that although tourist accommodation has benefits for hosts and tourists, “they may raise concerns in some communities that, for example, have a shortage of affordable housing.”
To ensure their control, they will focus on platforms that share information online with public authorities. Specifically, they ask them to provide data once a month and in an automated manner Number of rented nights and guests.
“It envisages less stringent notification capabilities for micro- and micro-platforms. Public authorities will be able to receive this data through national unified digital windows, which will allow for better targeting of policy making”, says the European Commission.
Future approval of this proposal will open the way for governments, communities and municipalities to clarify these regulations. Something the Spanish Federation of Hotels and Accommodation (Sihat) celebrates. “The lack of legislation in this regard so far has caused a significant increase in the shadow economy, labor and tax fraud, and competitive damage in the rest of the accommodation modalities,” said Secretary-General Ramon Estalila.
