Govt to announce new Airbnb guidelines soon

 

Budget hotel operators had complained that they were losing their customers to short-term residential accommodation. (Freepik pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The tourism ministry is currently working out the specific details of the new Airbnb guidelines and expects to reveal them soon.

Minister Tiong King Sing said the guidelines would also include safety measures at campsites.

“Give us one to two months to establish the (Airbnb) guidelines,” he told reporters at a breaking of fast event.

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He was responding to complaints from budget hotel operators who claimed that they had been losing their customers to short-term residential accommodation.

In February, Malaysia Budget and Business Hotel Association president Sri Ganesh Michiel said the association had asked the government to regulate the Airbnb businesses so that they could operate on a level playing field. However, their request was unsuccessful.

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Yesterday, Ganesh urged the government to resolve problems affecting the industry before asking more hoteliers to support the Rahmah initiative which sees products and services offered at lower prices.

He said if the government failed to settle the long-standing threats to the industry, the hotel operators should not be expected to fork out more money. - FMT