Regulations tips

Florida lawmakers have made progress on regulating short-term vacation rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, with the Senate passing a bill (SB 280) last week addressing occupancy limits, registration fees, and enforcement measures.

The European Commission said on Monday it had designated Booking.com’s parent company, Booking Holdings, as having “gatekeeper” regulatory status under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. The move came as part of a broader effort to rein in tech giants such as Google and Apple.

Booking.com initiated a program in 2021 to highlight properties that were standouts in their sustainability practices – on Monday, it began removing its badges from listings in response to regulators in the Netherlands.

Despite a 2022 ordinance making short-term rentals illegal in Hawaii, a district court judge ruled that existing short-term rentals can continue their operations and advertising of rentals for stays of 30 to 89 days.

Wyndham isn’t warming to Choice’s latest attempt at a hostile takeover, and characterized it Tuesday as a “step backwards.”

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says 2023 marks the end of the company’s focus on perfecting its core business. He’s spent the past two years gathering feedback from hosts and guests to get the basic product right. Now, he says he’s ready to move forward and launch new things. 

An Italian judge has ordered the seizure of 779.5 million euros ($836.40 million) from short-term rentals platform Airbnb’s Ireland unit for alleged tax evasion, Milan prosecutors’ office said on Monday.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on October 7 a bill to ban mandatory hidden fees — also called junk fees — starting July 1, 2024.

Telluride, Colorado, is lifting its moratorium on new short-term rental licenses and introducing a $857 annual per-bedroom regulatory fee for property owners who rent to vacationers. This move is aimed at boosting revenue for housing initiatives and alleviating housing shortages.

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.

California legislators have passed two bills that could impact how the state’s 6,000 hotels and thousands of short-term rentals inform consumers about so-called junk fees, such as resort fees and housekeeping fees.

Looking for a short-term rental stay via Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com in New York City for the Thanksgiving holiday? One week after the city implemented tough host registration requirements, you can expect to see listings that violate the rules, more hotels, and stays in New Jersey.

September 5 was the first day of New York City’s short-term rental registration rules, but the city’s electronic verification system isn’t operational yet, Skift has learned from three sources familiar with the new process.

New York City’s Office of Special Enforcement has approved only 257 short-term rental host registrations — out of 3,250 applications — ahead of a September 5 enforcement deadline.

The European Commission will propose light-touch rules for Airbnb and other short-term home rental companies, people familiar with the matter said.

Airbnb thinks it’s unfair that the European Commission is proposing increased data-sharing requirements on short-term rental providers across the zone, but Google seemingly is escaping the clampdown.

New York City is in the process of getting all the pieces in place to clamp down on illegal short-term rentals pending a July deadline when fines against both hosts and platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com for any non-compliance would begin.

The major players in short-term rentals — Airbnb, Expedia/Vrbo and Booking.com — seldom work together as a unit when faced with tough city crackdowns around the world.

Kimberly Miles, the executive director of the Vacation Rental Management Association, acknowledges that there is a “new normal” for the sector this year as demand softens or over-supply takes hold in certain markets, but there is also a reset for the association in terms of unlikely allies and members.

Major online travel agencies feel a ton of competitive pressures, but one thing is clear: They throw off a ton of cash.