There was an interesting story in Tuesday’s edition about the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) forging a partnership with Smart Concepts 721 BV. The goal is to implement a virtual concierge service for vacation rental users.
This seems like a good idea, especially seeing the growth of what was originally called “home-sharing”, with Airbnb the best-known marketing vehicle. People increasingly go online to handle all aspects of their holidays, including booking and purchasing the trip, their stay, activities, etcetera.
As part of the agreement signed, an emergency broadcast system will be integrated into the digital concierge, allowing government to disseminate critical information during natural disasters. TEATT now being able to communicate with such guests through “real time push” notifications was mentioned, along with having Carnival and the Soul Beach Music Festival as the first events to be promoted this way.
So far, so good, but what about regulating and taxing providers of short-term rental properties? That’s particularly an issue with non-resident owners, who are not among the country’s taxpayers.
Much has been said on this topic in the past few years, but with very limited results other than some locals adding related income when filing their taxes. Also considering the sheer volume, that’s not fair for traditional visitor accommodations such as hotels and timeshare resorts that must – or else – be fiscally compliant.
Although a still-largely-unspecified “tourist tax” was announced, that’s a one-time fixed levy charged to all stay-over passengers and has nothing to do with the vacation rental business. Tackling the latter regards much more than just securing sufficient revenues for the pubic sector, facilities and services.
It involves ensuring a level playing field in the hospitality industry.
