With the legal framework approved in Costa Rica, which regulates the provision of tourist rental services in housing through digital platforms, Airbnb executives anticipate a considerable drop in the number of hosts in the country.
On September 5, the Legislative Assembly reported that file 20865, the framework law for the regulation of non-traditional hosting and its intermediation through digital platforms, was approved for the second debate.
In Costa Rica, the bill to regulate the provision of tourist rental services in housing through digital platforms, which includes a 13% tax and would require suppliers to register, which would make this accommodation option more expensive.
The deputies approved in their first debate, file No. 20,865 Framework Law for the regulation of non-traditional hosting and its intermediation through digital platforms, reported the Assembly on August 28.
A month before the ballotage, Costa Rican tourism entrepreneurs are asking the two candidates for clear proposals on issues such as the impact of Airbnb, the tax burden and the image of the country at an international level.
Following the trend of the main business associations in the country, the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) has started to raise its concerns and ideas with the two presidential candidates regarding how to improve competitiveness of the sector.In the first meeting, with Fabricio Alvarado, candidate for the Restauración Nacional party, representatives of Canatur asked for urgent issues to be attended to, such as the case of the holiday rental platform Airbnb and the impact it is having on the operation of hotels and hostels.
A bill being prepared by the hotel union would force platforms such as Airbnb to pay 13% sales tax and an additional 5% for national parks.
The bill is being drafted by the National Chamber of Tourism, which intends to submit it to the Legislative Assembly.If passed, this law would take effect for all platforms used for renting accommodation for tourism purposes, such as Airbnb, Homeaway and others.
The company's proposal states that in just two months it could start making tax
payments, putting to the test the responsiveness of bureaucracy against the speed of the real economy.
Airbnb, one of the leading global companies that is taking advantage of the momentum that the technological revolution has provided to the collaborative economy, has now created a housingsupply available for seasonal rental in Costa Rica which is equivalent to 18% of the supply of hotels.
In Costa Rica between 2010 and 2015, the proportion of tourists staying in rented homes instead of hotels increased from 4% to 11%.
Of the more than 9.6 million tourists who visited Costa Rica in the last five years, almost 700 thousand claimed to have stayed in rented homes using platforms such as Airbnb or Homeaway, instead of hotels.Figures compiled by Nacion.com indicate that the greatest trend was seen in the province of Guanacaste, specifically among tourists coming into the country through the Daniel Oduber airport.
In Costa Rica the total amount of accommodation available for rent through the web platform Airbnb is now equivalent to 18% of the hotels in the country.
The figure has been confirmed by the union of hoteliers, who say there is now a total of 11,000 homes offering accommodation for tourism through Airbnb.On top of this data there are also residences rented to tourists through other platforms such as Homeaway or VRBO.
Although major hotel brands claim not to be affected, the growing supply of houses and apartments for short stays, is forcing hotels to change their methods of attracting guests in order to survive.
Airbnb, VRBO and Homeaway are just some of the countless websites where owners rent their houses or apartments to tourists, who increasingly opt for this alternative to conventional hotels worldwide, and Central America is no exception.