Europe’s New Ideas to Reign in Short-Term Rentals

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, September 20. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

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Episode Notes

A European parliament group has issued proposals to regulate short-term rentals that it believes will help make housing more affordable, writes Short-Term Rental Reporter Srividya Kalyanaraman.

The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats has proposed, among other measures, requiring online platforms to share host information with authorities and display host registration numbers. The coalition has argued short-term rental platforms have contributed to the “touristification” of cities, impacting housing affordability and livability. 

Kalyanaraman reports that several European destinations have taken steps to help manage visitor numbers. Venice’s city council said it will charge day trippers a fee after the main island saw a drop in the number of permanent residents. In addition, Florence has raised its tourist tax for rentals, including on Airbnb and bed and breakfasts. 

Next, global corporations are finally increasing their investments in the tourism industry after taking a pandemic-era pause. But they have far to go to reach 2019 levels, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam. 

Habtemariam reports there were 352 new capital projects in 2022, a 23% jump from the previous year. That’s according to a report by the UN World Tourism Organization and investment publication fDI Intelligence. However, that’s far below 2019’s figure of 753 projects. Habtemariam adds that the cumulative value of the projects in 2022 was $50 billion below 2019 levels.  

Finally, Dubai is continuing to see visitor numbers surpass pre-pandemic figures — in large part because of a surge in Russian travelers, writes Middle East Reporter Josh Corder in this week’s Middle East Travel Roundup. 

Dubai welcomed 9.8 million overseas visitors up to July this year, more than a million over 2022’s figure. It’s slightly greater than Dubai’s visitor numbers for the same period in 2019. Corder reports the boom in Russian visitors is a major reason for Dubai’s tourism rebound. Travel from Russia has jumped 93% from last year, with many wealthy Russians settling in Dubai.