There is an intriguing story on today’s regional pages about an Airbnb presentation at Caribbean Week in New York. The latter is in itself notable, because the globally-operating company was at first very much considered a threat to the existing hospitality sector.
The main point made during the annual Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) event is that home-sharing stimulated inter-regional travel particularly since the spread of COVID-19. Such bookings would have almost doubled in the first quarter of this year, while the listed six destinations doing best in that sense include nearby St. Kitts and Nevis as well as Antigua and Barbuda.
CTO now recognises the value of what was even called a “game-changer” to help spread the benefits of tourism more evenly throughout the region. Airbnb also said 85% of hosts who recommend attractions, restaurants and shops to guests do so for places in their location’s proximity.
Where it regards income, for every US $10 spent on accommodations, US $45 is supposedly spent elsewhere. Not that all potential issues regarding the phenomenon have been resolved, however.
The Court in First Instance in St. Maarten recently ruled against parties offering three villas for vacation rentals on platforms Airbnb and VRBO in a luxury resident area (see Wednesday paper) based on rules in the deeds of transfer, which allow only use for residential purposes. It should be interesting to see what this jurisprudence might lead to in practice.
Then there is the matter of fiscal obligations and ensuring a level playing field. Finance Minister Ardwell Irion mentioned working with the platforms and applying software that can identify local hosts and the amounts earned, but little is known of possible joint tax collection or revenue-sharing arrangements like those in other countries.
Research quoted by Airbnb also indicates there may be enough business to go around for both traditional resorts/hotels and home-sharing properties, as visitor spending in Latin American and the Caribbean is foreseen to approach $500 billion in 2025, more than 16% above pre-pandemic numbers.
Despite whatever complications and restrictions, one can safely conclude that home-sharing is here to stay and the region’s tourism must learn to live with it.
