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Fears Over the Impact of 'Non-Hotels' on the Tourism Industry in Mallorca
Private home lets may impact massively on jobs & income in the next 10 years
The increase in popularity of websites which advertise people's houses or apartments as holiday accommodation, is causing concern in the hotel industry & associated businesses.
These properties offer an alternative to hotel and aparthotel accommodation, and the Balearic Islands Department of Tourism is worried.
In a recent study by Ernst & Young, they predicted that the impact on the tourist industry in the next 10 years could mean jobs losses of between 5-13,000 and a loss in turnover of potentially up to 500 million euros.
It's currently estimated that there are in the region of 50-80,000 properties not regulated by the tourism department in the Balearics i.e. those renting their properties without the correct 'touristic rentals' license, which deems them to be illegal lets.
In Spain the government is saying that each region is responsible for their own response to websites such as these, but they are coming under increasing pressure to prohibit them, especially from the larger hotel chains who see these sites as unfair competition and unregulated. But can they really be stopped or is finding a compromise a better solution for all concerned?
In other European cities, agreements have been drawn up with some of the larger websites to collect the correct tourist taxes, whilst some have imposed fines on the websites stating that they haven't met the correct regulator procedures.
Whatever the outcome(s), it seems that this issue will be an ongoing headache for legislators, hoteliers and property letters for some time to come.
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Will Besga at Mallorca Law (who offer tax and legal advice) has kindly written us a series of articles explaining the ins and outs of renting properties in Mallorca. If you are a property owner and would like to know more about the Tenancy Act, read on.
New reform on the Tenancy Act in Mallorca
