Twelve travel tech startups announced more than $147 million in fundraises in the past two weeks.
19.09.2023 - 18:31 / skift.com / Antonio Costa / Srividya Kalyanaraman
European parliamentary group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats has stressed the need to regulate short-term rental booking platforms, such as Airbnb and Booking.com, to make housing more affordable. The European Parliament’s committee on internal market and consumer protection has given the go-ahead to do so.
The group’s proposed regulations include host registration schemes, obliging online platforms to display host registration numbers and share host information with authorities. This move is intended to enhance transparency in the European short-term rental market.
The coalition’s position is that though these platforms have driven tourism and economic development to several underserved parts of Europe, they have also contributed to the “touristification” of cities, impacting housing affordability and livability.
European member states have already started taking action. For instance, Greece announced this week that it plans to bolster its climate change-related natural disasters fund by increasing the hospitality tax €1 to €6 per night ($1.07 to $6.40) primarily on luxury hotel stays.
The city council in Venice said it will charge day-trippers a fee of €6 ($5.36) to help manage the flow of tourists into the city, after the main island saw a decline in the number of permanent residents.
Florence raised its tourist tax for rentals, including on Airbnb and bed and breakfasts. The tax will be raised from €4 to €5.50 per night ($4.27 to in $ 5.8).
Earlier this year, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa proposed to end the Golden visa program, which offers residence to non-European Union nationals for investments made in the economy. In August, the government froze issuing new licenses until 2030, except for areas classified as “low density” in municipalities and parishes.
As for the short-term rental industry, some agree with the need for transparency but also think that the political parties are acting under pressure and not doing enough to manage destinations.
“Everything that requires more transparency to the consumers is great news, it’s a step forward for the industry, but what I don’t see as a positive is political parties blaming an industry that’s reconstructing city centers, creating employment and economic activity,” said Carlos Pérez-Lanzac de Lorca, founding president of the Andalusian Association of Short-Term Rentals and Touristic Apartments and managing committee at European Holiday Home Association.
“It is unfair to blame the industry. If destinations are planned better and well, ‘touristification’ can be managed better.”
Lanzac de Lorca pointed out that the total number of short-term rental units available in Spain is never above 2% of the total housing
Twelve travel tech startups announced more than $147 million in fundraises in the past two weeks.
Florence banned short-term rentals in its historic center, guests spent over 150 million nights in short-term rentals this summer in Europe, and its cities fear overtourism.
Hot on the heels of releasing its new domestic schedule—which includes connections to a slew of cities known for their access to the outdoors—Delta Air Lines has announced its updated lineup of transatlantic flights for summer 2024, complete with routes not flown in years.
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Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says that visiting — and living in — New York City will be more expensive after the Big Apple passed new regulations for booking vacation rentals.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced plans for a new short-term vacation rental platform, Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt, that will feature private homes and remote hideaways in the United States.
The head of Airbnb, the world's largest vacation rental platform, issued a warning to travelers considering a trip to New York City over the next year.
Thousands of years ago, disparate groups of Native Americans came together to form the Hopewell culture, LiveScience reported.
A Canadian man has sparked strong reactions from non-Americans on TikTok after he shared a video recapping a Europe trip that did not live up to expectations. Several angry initial commenters mistakenly assumed he was American, with one top commenter hurling "f america" in response.
Ryanair said on Thursday it did not see a risk of the European Union introducing minimum prices or compulsory limits on flights because it would disenfranchise poorer people, making it politically impossible.
In late May, I flew with my daughter from California to Kennedy International Airport in New York, where I rented a car from Avis and headed to Connecticut for a three-day family visit. On day two, I parked the car in Waveny Park in New Canaan and when I returned, it was gone. The local police told me they had impounded the rental because Avis had reported it stolen to the New York Police Department. I had planned to spend the last day of my trip with my 80-something mother, whom I had not seen for three years because of the pandemic, but had to waste precious hours on hold with Avis’s customer service department. They eventually offered me a new car but I was unable to coordinate picking it up, so we ended up relying on my sisters to get around. I was only able to spend a few hours with my mom and had to take a $100 Uber back to the airport. I asked Avis not to charge me for the rental, but they did, $653, and when I disputed the charge with Capital One, Avis fought me. I can’t believe Avis is renting out cars they have reported stolen, and then charging its clients. Can you help?
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