LEVELLING THE PLAYING FIELD

FEATURED PROJECT

A phenomenon that has spread as rapidly as the sharing economy has naturally attracted significant attention. All of those involved; those who use sharing economy services, those who share, trade, exchange or rent their own products and services, businesses offering similar services to those being ‘shared’ as well as governments at all levels have found themselves on different sides of a dynamic debate about the present and future shape of the sharing economy. 

In the case of accommodation rentals through sharing economy platforms, the rapid expansion and diversification of the private sector accommodation is proof that consumers are enjoying this new system of renting private properties while visiting other areas, as well as the choice and value for money that it often brings. 

However, this rapid growth is also proof of a rather more uncomfortable fact; that a multi-million dollar business has grown partly due to a vacuum of legislation; legislation that was created to ensure that individuals and businesses pay taxes that are proportionate to their turnover, that consumers and providers are properly protected in case of incidents, and that all commercial operations are able to compete fairly based on the services that they offer.  

As the voice of hotels, restaurants, cafés and similar establishments in Europe, HOTREC is keen to ensure that they may compete on a fair basis with all types of tourist services, as well as helping its members adapt to modern consumer trends. With this in mind, the policy paper serves the following objectives:

- Provide a concise overview of the emergence and expansion of the private accommodation sector as facilitated by the sharing economy with a focus on key drivers and concerns. 

- Highlight the cases which immediately require institutional changes from the national to the regional and local level to level the playing field.  

- Put forward practical policy recommendations with regard to HOTREC’s position on the on-going debate among tourism stakeholders, public authorities, P2P platforms and service providers.