Government will regulate Airbnb and other home-sharing apps in South Africa, amid growing concerns that they are damaging to the tourism sector.<\/p>\n
Published on Friday (12 April), the\u00a0Tourism Amendment Bill\u00a0<\/a>states that ‘short-term home rentals’ will now be legislated under the Tourism Act.<\/p>\n The bill also empowers the minister of Tourism to determine the ‘thresholds’ regarding these short-term home rentals.<\/p>\n Speaking to BusinessTech, a spokesperson for the Department of Tourism confirmed that these changes were specifically being introduced to regulate platforms such as Airbnb.<\/p>\n He said that the bill also aims to make it clear that this regulation will fall under the ambit of the minister of tourism.<\/p>\n “There is currently no other piece of legislation that specifies who is responsible for this regulation,” he said.<\/p>\n “We don’t want a situation like with Uber where there is confusion as to who has power to regulate.”<\/p>\n Thresholds<\/strong><\/p>\n The amendment will also allow the minister to specify ‘thresholds’ when it comes to Airbnbs in South Africa.<\/p>\n This could include limits on the number of nights that a guest can stay or even how much income an Airbnb earns, he said.<\/p>\n “These thresholds are not about being hard on (Airbnb) owners but making sure that everyone gets their fair share,” he said.<\/p>\n “If the guy in the Airbnb gets 13 nights, and the guy next door gets nothing, then he knows that he will get his chance when the Airbnb reaches its threshold.”<\/p>\n “Its more about a shared economy rather than trying to regulate a private service,” he said.<\/p>\n The spokesperson said that the Department of Tourism also plans to give more oversight to local government when it comes to zoning and where an Airbnb may be located.<\/p>\n