Hoteliers call for Airbnb regulation

CEBU, Philippines — As the presence of Airbnb continues to eat up room accommodation share in the Philippines, hoteliers are calling on the government to speed up the legislation regulating the business of room-sharing platform.

Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) board member Arthur Gindap said as long as the Philippines has no clear regulations that govern Airbnb, it will always remain an underground business.

In an interview with Gindap, he said that there is a need for the government to provide a level playing field in the hospitality business, as Airbnb promotes imbalance in the industry.

Legitimate hospitality businesses follow the rules, pay taxes, and other duties, while the increasing number of rooms floated through online Airbnb bookings do the same business without adhering to any other responsibility expected of a legitimate business.

Gindap, who is also the general manager for Robinsons Hotels and Resorts group, which now has a combined room portfolio of over 4,000, hopes that legislative measures to regulate Airbnb is an urgent issue, as the country’s tourism sector is on its peak.

While the industry welcomes the move of Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat in pushing to develop an accreditation system for Airbnb units in the country, Gindap said it has to be implemented as soon as possible.

Airbnb is an online marketplace and hospitality service, enabling people to list or rent short-term lodging including vacation rentals, apartment rentals, homestays and hostel beds.

Earlier, Puyat announced that DOT is looking to discuss plans of accrediting Airbnb units with the private sector.

“We have to talk to the private sector on how to accredit because that’s our problem, we cannot accredit them,” the secretary was quoted in a report.

There are over 60 thousand Airbnb listings in the Philippines, and this is growing dramatically.

Worldwide, the 11-year-old start-up success story, recorded a whooping 6 million listings in 21 thousand cities around the world.

Airbnb as a company is now worth US$30 billion.