Western Cape minister Schafer rejects regulation on home rental firms

The Western Cape Government will be making submissions to oppose any regulations which could impact tourism revenue and affect people's private property rights.

Minister in Western Cape Government strongly rejected regulation of short-term home rental accommodation platforms like Airbnb. The minister opposed central government plans on the draft Tourism Amendment Bill which is out for public comment. The Western Cape Government will be making submissions to oppose any regulations which could impact tourism revenue and affect people's private property rights.

The Economic Opportunities minister Beverley Schafer said, "The Western Cape Government is driving tourism growth and in order to develop this sector, we need a sufficient mix of hotel, B&B and home rental room nights in order to accommodate a wide variety of tourists and budgets."

According to Airbnb, they contributed R8.7 billion to the national economy between June 2017 and May 2018, creating jobs and opportunities for 22,000 people in South Africa. "We need to stimulate innovation and use disruptors in order to put tourism on steroids in this province."

"The draft amendments currently do not mention what the thresholds will entail, and we expect these will be contained in regulations to be released at a later date. Any regulations that infringe on people's property rights, or impact a host's ability to earn a living must be rejected outright."

"Over 2 million people have made use of Airbnb alone in this country, and if regulations make it more difficult for travellers to access this kind of accommodation, they will simply vote with their wallets and go elsewhere. We cannot allow this to happen," Minister Schäfer said.

"We've also seen a number of traditional hotels and bed and breakfasts using disruptor sites to market their accommodation and generate business this way. Additionally, we've seen Airbnb start to offer experiences which allow local entrepreneurs to offer unique tourism products to travellers and earn an income. Regulations could unintentionally impact these businesses and entrepreneurs."

"The national government has already done extreme damage to this country's reputation as a tourist destination as a result of the introduction of a crippling visa regime. We cannot afford another clumsy and short-sighted mistake which could potentially harm this important sector further."