Call for Airbnb crackdown to target investors, holiday homes in Western Australia
ABCWA's biggest tourism lobby group has called for a crackdown on Airbnb, pushing for a ban on the use of residential properties for tourist accommodation unless someone is living there. Key points: Short-stay accommodation providers allow people to rent private accommodation Tourism groups say this hurts established operators like hotels Tasmania's loose approach to Airbnb has put pressure on house prices and rents The Tourism Council told a parliamentary inquiry into short-stay accommodation that Airbnb and other similar websites were costing the state $300 million, with a $12 million hit in taxes, as it criticised what it labelled an uneven playing field. Tourism Council chief executive Evan Hall called on the State Government to crack down on Airbnb listings that did not serve as somebody's primary residence, a move that would target people whose investment or holiday properties were put up on the site. "They want to ban all holiday homes, and remove people's choice about how they use their homes and how they holiday," Airbnb's head of public policy Brent Thomas said.