According to a draft law by the EU Commission, cities and municipalities should receive more data from Airbnb and other providers in order to be better prepared for crowds of tourists. Short-term rentals accounted for a quarter of all tourist accommodation, said an EU official in Brussels.
However, rentals through platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com made it very difficult to predict how many tourists would arrive. According to the EU Commission, there are some complaints from local authorities about too much tourism.
In individual cases, European cities had already become active. In Amsterdam, for example, registration for Airbnb came into force last year to curb mass tourism.
The innovations are intended to enable cities and municipalities to better prepare themselves in the future. In concrete terms, this should be achieved by communicating how many guests are staying and for how long. With the new data, for example, offers such as waste disposal, but also opening times of tourist information or timing of waste disposal can be better regulated.
In addition, hosts must register their accommodations with the authorities, which should also contribute to safety for consumers. The EU Commission does not expect any additional costs for guests.
Not only online giants like Airbnb or Booking.com, but also smaller platforms should be affected by the new rules. Providers with fewer than 2,500 hosts per month on average may fall under relaxed rules.
Those who do not comply with the planned requirements should be able to be penalized by national authorities. Whether these are fines or other measures is at the discretion of the respective EU states. The new elements should also lead to more sustainable tourism .
Now the EU states and the EU Parliament must discuss the proposals. Only when both institutions agree can the project become applicable law in the EU. In addition, a transitional period of two years is envisaged to establish ways of exchanging data.
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