Travel industry experts have requested to call for a regulation of Airbnb because of the “damaging” effect on the South West of the online accommodation giant.
Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall said that the travel company skewing the housing market, putting visitors in danger and risks adversely affecting the image of an industry that is vitally important to the region. According to Mr.Bell, the operator – which has 3,600 hosts in Cornwall alone – might overload South West tourist hot spots such as Torbay and Newquay, leading to problems that have seen protests flare against the industry in parts of Europe. He thus requested the government to look for a regulated rule for the accommodation sector which would include all the short0stay sites along with airbnb.
Cornwall Council cabinet member Andrew Mitchell said he was concerned about the pressure on services such as refuse collection and of landlords effectively using their properties as businesses but not paying commercial rates.
Mr Bell said, “Airbnb is doing damage. Boosting accommodation is fine when offering a spare room, as Airbnb started out. But many people are doing this as a business. We are seeing thousands of two- and three-bedroom properties.
“Some are only offering a couple of weeks in the summer. But we do not want extra bodies in August. We want the same number but spending more, and spread through the year.
“Thousands more people in the peak periods puts pressure on services like water and roads. I am concerned about the impact in places like Torquay, Newquay, Falmouth and St Ives.”
The responsible owners have offered accommodation in registered hotels, guest houses and self-catering properties faced regulations and inspections ranging from health and safety to food preparation and serving standards. Also, as opposed to the Airbnb owners, they had to pay the taxes which can easily be avoided by the airbnb operators.
Although airbnb has added a very wide range of accommodation and brought more people in the South West, Simon Fishwick of Visit Devon said that it is sheer madness that they have a system developed over many years to make sure that B and Bs, self-catering accommodation are regulated for risks such as fire. Airbnb falls completely outside that.
