Western Cape will fight antitourism ‘Airbnb bill’

The DA-run Western Cape says it will oppose any plans by the national government to regulate short-term home rentals, such as those on the popular online platform Airbnb that has generated billions of rand for the province, saying the move would kill tourism.

“Over 2-million people have made use of Airbnb alone in this country, and if regulations make it more difficult for travellers to access this kind of accommodation, they will simply vote with their wallets and go elsewhere,” Western Cape economic opportunities MEC Beverley Schäfer said. “We cannot allow this to happen,”

The Western Cape, which the party hails as the best-run province in the country, is a renowned tourist hotspot and attracts millions of visitors to its beaches and wine farms.

In SA tourism contributed R136.1bn, or about 2.9% of total GDP in 2017, according to government data. This increased to R412.5bn, or 8.9% of GDP, when “indirect and induced benefits” across a very broad value chain were factored in.

Homeowners using the online platform generated close to R5bn for the Western Cape economy in 2017, according to data from Airbnb. On average, hosts can make about R34,000 a year.

In April, the national government published the Tourism Amendment Bill for public comment. Should it be promulgated, short-term home rentals will be regulated under the Tourism Act and the minister of tourism could then specify various “thresholds” in terms of Airbnb rentals in SA.

This could include limiting the number of nights that guests can stay and how much money a host can earn. According to the department of tourism, this would level the playing field by ensuring that “everyone gets their fair share”.

Echoing calls to regulate ride-share platform Uber, which has disrupted the taxi industry worldwide, local tourism industry players have long called for Airbnb to be regulated.

The Federated Hospitality Association of SA argues that unregistered accommodation establishments marketed via Airbnb should be under the same regulations applied to the official tourism sector.

Schäfer said that while the draft amendments did not mention what the thresholds would entail, “any regulations that infringe on people’s property rights, or impact a host’s ability to earn a living must be rejected outright . Citing data from the US company, she said Airbnb had contributed R8.7bn to the economy from June 2017 to May 2018, creating jobs and opportunities for 22,000 people.

“We need to stimulate innovation and use disruptors in order to put tourism on steroids in this province,” Schäfer said.

A number of traditional hotels and bed and breakfasts were using disruptor sites, such as Airbnb, to market their accommodation and generate business, she said.

“The national government has already done extreme damage to this country’s reputation as a tourist destination as a result of the introduction of a crippling visa regime. We cannot afford another clumsy and short-sighted mistake, which could potentially harm this important sector further.”

Marc Wachsberger, founder and MD of The Capital Hotels and Apartments, said government should focus on collecting tax from homeowners on the Airbnb platform, instead of overregulation. He proposed the “Amsterdam model”, in which Airbnb collects an occupancy tax on behalf of the government and pays it to revenue services.

R136.1bn tourism s contribution to SA’s GDP, according to government data