DTS Limited in Hong Kong stands behind Airbnb
Airbnb, Inc. is a privately held global company headquartered in San Francisco that operates an online marketplace and hospitality service which is accessible via its websites and mobile apps.
- (1888PressRelease) February 03, 2019 - Room-sharing site Airbnb has fired a broadside in the escalating WA tourism wars, calling on the McGowan Government to put in place Statewide rules to see off a push to prevent holiday areas like Margaret River and Broome from using the service.
As the WA tourism sector warns of a “doomsday” scenario unless it gets more taxpayer funding, Airbnb argues WA needs to get with the times — arguing the new generation of millennial travelers do not use established hotels.
In a submission to a State Government probe into rules around home sharing, Airbnb calls on WA to mirror changes in NSW, where the Government sets caps on how many nights a year holiday homes in regional areas can be let out.
Leven Cheung of DTS Limited said “The Airbnb plan pushes back at demands by the Australian Hotels Association, which wants services like Airbnb limited to a host’s primary residence as well a mandatory registration scheme for those offering shared accommodation”.
In a submission Airbnb spokesman Brent Thomas said the current rules for home sharing in WA were broken and needed to be fixed.
“Many of the rules were written in the last century before the internet existed and often vary wildly between councils,” Mr Thomas said.
Airbnb said it would be “grossly unfair” to force small room sharers to follow the same rules as a 20-bedroom international hotel.
NSW recently introduced laws imposing a 180-day cap on properties used for Airbnb-style sharing when hosts were not present and gave powers to strata corporations to ban Airbnb in their buildings.
Regulation of internet room sharing in WA is currently largely left up to local councils, leading to fights over Airbnb “party houses” , as other locals demand rights to earn extra cash by renting out a room.
The McGowan Government is waiting for the inquiry to report back before it outlines a way forward on regulating short-stay accommodation
.
Airbnb has also backed a NSW-style mandatory code of conduct for short-stay accommodation that would ban hosts or guests who breach a code of conduct from access to the site.
The tourism industry is pleading with the State Government for another $130 million in funding to combat plummeting visitor numbers to WA.
“No wonder the visitor numbers are dropping”, said Cheung of DTS Limited. “They should model their system like we have in Hong Kong”.
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