Portuguese Government Wants More Platforms to Cross-Reference Data Like Airbnb

5 December 2017

The Secretary of State for Tourism, Ana Godinho, welcomes Airbnb’s pioneering initiative in Europe, which is expected to “induce the registration of homes” and says that other platforms “have shown a willingness” to follow the same model.

The Portuguese tourism sector has come up with a new plan that promises to serve as an example to the rest of Europe, which is stubbornly trying to stop the winds of technological age with its hands. It is another step on the road to recognising the place that local tourist accommodations have already won in the heart of tourists – both Portuguese and foreign – and is the result of an innovative platform developed by Airbnb in collaboration with the State Secretariat for Tourism.

From the beginning of this month, anyone who wants to register a house on Airbnb in Portugal is automatically enrolled in the National Registry of Local Accommodation Establishments. By cross-referencing the data, Turismo de Portugal, which oversees the registry, can immediately detect if any property owner is avoiding their obligations. The measure is an initiative of the most significant local housing platform in operation in the country, Airbnb, which bolsters the legality of the houses it offers. The Secretary of State for Tourism stated that she’d like to see the remaining platforms adopt the same model.

After the law that came into force in July, which obliges all hosts to register in the official registry, this initiative “which results from a collaboration between the government and Airbnb and Booking – who did a remarkable job” – will strengthen the mechanisms to ensure that houses used on the platform are included in the formal, Secretary Godinho told DN. For the minister, the fact that the platforms were at the forefront of “the initiative to create mechanisms themselves to ensure that only those who are registered” may use their platforms, is very significant. This measure will also help combat fraud, such as occurrences we saw a few days after the approval of the law requiring formal registration in order to be permitted to make short-term leases to tourists – including the use of registration numbers of other owners on booking platforms or even the mere invention of numbers.

Emphasizing the importance of Portugal staying on the front line in this issue, the official told the DN that Tourism ministry is already “working with the remaining platforms to use this open link to the official registration site” and improve services. In addition to Airbnb and Booking, there are several other companies that provide the same type of service, including HomeAway and Expedia, which also operate in Portugal.

“All the platforms have been willing to be active partners in this movement to bring their members into the formal economy and have cross-referencing mechanisms that give security to all participants,” the Secretary of State for Tourism stated. That is, the mechanism has been created, and now it is just a matter of the willingness of the remaining platforms to adhere to a model similar to that of Airbnb and Booking.

Pioneering measures

Portugal was the first country to regulate local accommodation – “we are an example of regulation”, Ms Godinho emphasised -, and this pioneering method, that “induces the registration of homes so the owners will be able to market their properties,” may even be “presented informally as a case study.”

The results of this “giant step”, as the Airbnb and Booking.com’s initiative is described by the Secretary of State, are in sight. In the last two years, registrations have soared “from about 28,000 to the current 54,909”, Ana Mendes Godinho revealed yesterday to DN. As for the tax revenue associated with this activity, it doubled between 2015 and this year, with local accommodation already bringing in receipts of over 120 million euros for the state coffers. “It is, with doubt, an example,” the minister stressed.

Moreover, the advantages that the measure brings are not limited to the Portuguese state. The truth is that the hotels and the rest of the traditional offer get to compete in a more level playing field, by ensuring the entrance of the local accommodation in the formal economy and tightening the mesh to prevent possible leaks. “One of the great goals of this solution is also to promote healthy and legal competition among the various formats, in which everyone pays taxes and contributes to the economy,” Secretary Godinho concluded.

Original Story: Diário de Notícias

Photo: Global Imagens

Translation: Richard Turner