Hotels in Antwerp are calling for those that let out accommodation in the city via Airbnb to be subject to more stringent checks. The news of the hotel industry in Antwerp’s call appears in Monday’s addition of the daily ‘Gazet van Antwerpen’. Antwerp’s hoteliers say that the amount of accommodation that is being let through Airbnb is increasing ever more and that companies are buying entire apartment buildings to rent them out via the holiday let platform. The hoteliers say that this is unfair competition.
Antwerp
Antwerp’s hotels call for tighter checks on the Airbnb accommodation in the city
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In 2017 there were 1,500 rooms, flats and houses in Antwerp that were available to let via Airbnb. This figure has since grown to 2,000. The hotel industry has few issues with small-scale landlords letting out a room or a flat to tourists. However, larger players that buy up several properties to let them via the platform are a thorn in the side of Antwerp’s hoteliers.
There is not only the issue of possible tax evasion. The hoteliers says that the big players on Airbnb don’t always respect the rules that apply to providers of tourist accommodation.
Didier Boehlen of the Antwerp Hotel Association told VRT News that this constitutes unfair competition. "Professional providers buy up entire buildings that were intended for residential use and use them for commercial purposes. This is not something that we want to happen here in Antwerp. Do the city authorities want there to be entire streets with no one other than tourists?”
The hotel industry is calling on the city authorities in Antwerp to act. The hoteliers want the City of Antwerp to carry out more checks on Airbnb lets and also impose a limit on the number of days per annum that a property can be let via the platform.
The authorities in Brussels have already set up a special unit that tracks down individuals and companies that let out holiday accommodation on a vast scale through Airbnb and takes their lets off the market. In Ghent (East Flanders) the city authorities levy a higher level of tourist tax on Airbnb lets than on other tourist accommodation.
Speaking on VRT Radio 1, the Antwerp Alderman responsible for tourism Koen Kennis (Flemish nationalist) said that the city authorities are taking measures. However, measures on the scale of those taken in Brussels fall under the remit of the regional authorities. Mr Kennis added that “We also have a lot of people who track down those that abuse the system. To this end we also work closely with the hotel industry."