LATE last Friday afternoon Katy Gallagher surprised us with a back door legalisation of Airbnb which lets homeowners with spare rooms monetise those spaces after they clear out the disused gym equipment.

Even more surprising was that we could get no comment from the Hotels’ Association on this mortal threat to their business.

Today, a week later, they have responded predictably:

A decision by the ACT Government to deregulate Boarding House licenses will negatively impact on Canberra’s licensed accommodation sector, the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) ACT warned today.

Under the short-sighted move, hospitality businesses will no longer need a license for health risks to operate and run a boarding house (accommodation) from January 1 next year.

AHA ACT General Manager Brad Watts expressed serious concerns about the decision as it will further open the door to more unlicensed and unregulated accommodation providers in the ACT, affecting the Territory’s tourism brand and community safety.

“While there are savings for licensed hotels by reducing red tape, which is to be applauded, the long-term cost of this decision will be far greater on the ACT’s licensed accommodation sector,” Mr Watts said.

“More and more unlicensed, backyard operators are offering short-term accommodation in the ACT, competing directly with fully licensed hotels and accommodation providers.”

Mr Watts said many of these operators do not follow property licensing rules in terms of having liquor licenses, Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) provisions, disability access requirements, commercial/public liability insurance, fire protection services and evacuation procedures.

“We urge the Government to fully investigate this problem before making any more regulatory changes relating to the hospitality and tourism industry,” Mr Watts said.

Mr Watts said the practice of letting residential properties for hotel accommodation has gone unregulated for too long and is a major concern for the AHA ACT as well as for local residents of apartment buildings and homes being used in this manner.

“The problem has increased in recent months with the proliferation of websites advertising short-term accommodation options which often do not comply with the standards that a visitor expects,” Mr Watts said.

“The growing availability of so-called ‘apartment accommodation’ is certainly having a negative impact on ACT’s hotel industry.”

“Hyatt Hotel Canberra” by Bidgee – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.