Silver lining for hotels in Uber law change
Motel owners needn’t feel threatened by the Government’s decision to side with Uber over taxi industry regulation, the Hospitality Association believes.
While taxi companies are fighting competition from ride-sharing service Uber, hotel and motel owners have a similar battle on their hands competing against Airbnb.
The Government’s decision on Thursday to re-regulate the taxi industry in favour of Uber might therefore seem an ill-omen for commercial accommodation providers.
But Hospitality Association president Adam Cunningham said the two industries were not in the same boat, as the association had initially thought.
Transport Minister Simon Bridges had put taxi drivers and Uber drivers on a level playing field by requiring they complied with the same regulations, and that was all hotels and motels wanted of Airbnb hosts, Cunningham said.
It was not reasonable if hotels and motels had to pay commercial rates, while Airbnb hosts did not, he said. Airbnb hosts should also be required to meet all of the health and safety and insurance requirements that commercial accommodation providers faced.
‘‘We are potentially putting guests at risk. When it comes to people booking a house versus a hotel room, the same requirements aren’t in place.’’
The association was ‘‘reasonably happy’’ with the new treatment that would be given to Uber, as it would increase transport options in some regions where operators struggled to meet demand, he said.
Cunningham did not agree that the tourist influx and Auckland’s housing shortage might make it a bad time to consider putting any fresh obstacles in the way of homeowners who might want to rent out rooms.
Commercial accommodation providers had spare capacity in all regions with the exception of ‘‘some small pockets in Queenstown’’, he said.
In practice, it was up to local councils to decide whether they wanted to charge Airbnb hosts commercial rates, he said.
If councils did that, a significant number of Airbnb hosts would stop offering accommodation as they wouldn’t see a profit, he said.
‘‘Those that remained would increase their standards and professionalism and they would become a part of the commercial accommodation sector’’.
Cunningham said that would be fair. ‘‘You can’t play in the same field as hotels and motels if you are not going to be charged the same.’’
Rules may vary between councils. Information for accommodation providers posted on Queenstown Lakes District Council’s website, for example, do not appear to make it explicit when commercial rates might apply to the likes of Airbnb hosts.