Dear Editor
Re: Should city crack down on Airbnb? Burnaby NOW, Friday, July 15.
Tourism Burnaby’s concern that Airbnb is a dark cloud over tourism is misplaced. When deciding which of two cities to stay in as a tourist, I will choose the one with a good selection of reasonably priced Airbnb or other B&B options.
If a city cracks down on small-scale Airbnb operations by imposing costly regulations and taxes, this may appear to benefit hotels, but tourists will stay for a shorter time or go somewhere else. Increased availability of Airbnb etc. increases tourism, benefits the industry in general and may also increase business for competitively priced hotels.
Is Tourism Burnaby negative towards Airbnb simply because hotels provide much of its income? If council does anything about Airbnb it should be to encourage and facilitate homeowners’ participation, not to add costly rules and taxes to keep “the horse in the barn” or worry about “out of control” as stated in Burnaby NOW’s report.
Frank Norman, email
