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Economy 20 minutes ago (November 22, 2022 12:17PM ET)
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Tourists take pictures at Puerta del Sol as Storm Celia blows from the Sahara Desert across the sand in Madrid, Spain, March 15, 2022. Reuters/Susanna Vera )
MADRID (Reuters) – The number of accommodation in Spain’s 20 largest cities is rapidly catching up to the number of rooms managed by hotels, a study released on Tuesday found , prompting hoteliers to call for better regulation of their emerging competitors.
Exceltur, the Spanish tourism industry association, said that the country’s 20 largest cities offer about 300,000 short-term rental properties, of which about 389,779 rooms are managed by hotels.
Exceltur, whose group of major Spanish hotel chains, travel agencies, tour operators and airlines is lobbying for a new law to regulate short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb, will make this situation Described as “out of control”.
Airbnb said this month it recorded a “disproportionate” third quarter, with single-room listings on its platform up 31% as more hosts Seeking extra income amid a cost of living crisis.
Exceltur research shows that renting out to tourists is twice as profitable as renting out to residents long term. Short-term rentals are also cheaper than hotels on average in Spain.
The number of short-term rentals as a hotel alternative rose 34.5% in 12 months in at least six major cities, with the majority located in the city center through September, Exceltur Commissioned research findings.
EQUAL TERMS
At least 6 out of 10 homes in the center of Seville are available Surveys by short-term rental The platform offers its services to tourists, while in central Madrid about a third of the houses near the historic Puerta del Sol are rented out for short-term accommodation.
Meanwhile, the number of hotel rooms in places like Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga or Seville has grown at just 2% a year since 2010, the study says increase.
“We all have to compete on an equal footing,” says Gabriel Escarrer, head of Exceltur and chief executive of Melia, Spain’s largest hotel group. “These properties must meet certain requirements to be listed.”
These include forcing the platform to verify that individual hosts are properly registered as tourist accommodation providers and are officially licensed to operate.
The European Commission has proposed draft legislation requiring online rental platforms to provide national authorities, people with data such as the number of customers using their services and how many nights they stayed. People familiar with the matter told Reuters.
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