HOTREC welcomes the proposal for a Regulation on short-term accommodation rentals (STR), presented today by the European Commission.
The initiative is an important step and opportunity to level the playing field amongst all accommodation providers, a majority of which are microenterprises, and establish a framework that will protect and benefit consumers, residents, local communities and the entire EU tourism ecosystem.
‘’Hospitality industry has long been calling for an EU Regulation that would address challenges brought forward by the STR accommodation phenomenon. Today, building upon the recently adopted Digital Services Act, the European Commission proposal represents a step in the right direction to ensure a fair, transparent, competitive and sustainable accommodation environment” stated Ms Marie Audren, Director General of HOTREC.
HOTREC will analyse the proposal and we look forward to continuing discussions with the Members of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
In July 2022, HOTREC published a position paper which looks over years of regulatory debate and policy responses to the growing challenge of STR services and presents our vision of how to regulate STR accommodations.
We identified the following key objectives:
• establish a mandatory host registration system and mandatory data-sharing obligations,
• empower local authorities to manage the development of STR services, particularly regarding market access conditions for STR hosts,
• support national fiscal authorities with relevant data,
• introduce measures that will aim to reach a comparable level of health, safety and security as those already well-established for regulated tourism accommodation services (hotels, guesthouses, etc.), and,
• ensure that basic rules apply to all STR hosts (professionals and peers).