Airbnb proposes home-sharing plan for Hong Kong flat owners to earn money and offer tourists ‘a local experience’
Have ‘simple licensing framework’ to keep track of hosts and ensure their premises are safe rather than cracking down on short-term rentals, home-sharing platform urges government
Airbnb has joined forces with a local sharing economy lobby group to convince the government not to crack down on short-term home rentals, arguing that having a “simple licensing framework” for homeowners would allow them to earn money on the side and boost tourism.
Mike Orgill, the home-sharing platform’s public policy director for Asia-Pacific, said the government could require homeowners to register to run their short-term homestay business and commit to guidelines on fire safety and security standards.
Current laws, he said, made it tough for Hongkongers to offer visitors a local experience.
Fancy an Airbnb in Hong Kong? Soon it might be illegal
“The law is really restrictive for people to share their homes. This will also be bad for the Hong Kong economy and we are really concerned,” Orgill said, after joining a forum organised by the Sharing Economy Alliance. IT lawmaker Charles Mok is an adviser to the alliance.
The law is really restrictive for people to share their homes. This will also be bad for the Hong Kong economy
Orgill’s comments were the first made by an Airbnb executive on home-sharing in the city, which has been staunchly opposed by hoteliers.
Under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance, premises that offer sleeping accommodation for a fee over a period of less than 28 days must be licensed.
But almost all residential property owners advertising on Airbnb and other home-sharing sites are likely to have ignored the law, critics say.
Hong Kong must do more to embrace the sharing economy
A check on Airbnb on Wednesday found about 9,000 properties from 5,000 hosts in the city were listed as temporary lodgings. Most were flats in apartment blocks.