Hotel Industry: What Should Toronto City Council Do?

Councillor Pam McConnell
Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West, Suite A7
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
April 7, 2017
Dear Councillor McConnell,
Re: Airbnb versus Hotel Industry What Should Toronto City Council Do?
Introduction
Airbnb has changed the hotel industry landscape as the home sharing network targets hotel clientele and especially the businessand leisure travelers. Customers preferring Airbnb use the option of private accommodation and will likely affect the number of people using hotel and lodging services. The sharing economy has affected other markets beyond the hotel industry, and even as they do not pay taxes this will be considered together with regulation.
Findings and Analysis
While short-term rentals can allow visitors to rely on Airbnb to get accommodation for several days laws on such short-term rentals are playing catch up and when faced with budget constraints. The council has not adequately addressed the issue of Airbnb and similar new business models compared to the hotel industry. The big operators are benefitting for home sharing services and to a less extent the individual homeowners. At the same time, Airbnb has disrupted the hotel industry and commercial landlords who rent their rooms for 6 months or more benefit despite Airbnb seeking to empower individual homeowners to supplement their incomes. The hotel industry players are wary that there is unfair competit...