2019-02-12 Attachment 1 to Item 7 - Short Term Accom Online Platform Issues Paper

The report also notes that the income from online holiday rentals is comparable to up to 170% of the
income derived from existing permanent rental properties, thus making short-term letting a very
attractive proposition for property investors. Many of the areas under scrutiny for the report (NSW
South Coast, Byron Bay and Mornington Peninsular) advised that they had seen the rise of a new
type of investor purchasing homes solely for the purpose of operating an online holiday rental.

The use of residential properties for short-term rental in coastal areas of Australia, including popular
and iconic coastal tourism regions such as Noosa, have long supported the development and growth
of the tourism industry in these regions, offering supplementary accommodations, diversity in size
and type of accommodation and fulfilling the needs of a broader range of tourist customer groups.
Accommodation is arguably the base of the tourism industry, constituting its most important segment
and playing a vital role in the tourism supply chain.

The tourism industry in Noosa is recognised as the region’s largest single economic driver with flow-
on benefits to the wider community8. In recent years, tourism has delivered a record $940 million to
Noosa’s economy in total visitor expenditure, and as an industry sector is the largest employer in the
region8.

Whilst tourism is part of the economic fabric of the Noosa region, and the region has always offered
a high volume of accommodation to tourists, the introduction of online accommodation share
economy platforms has allowed a greater volume and diversity of accommodation to be offered.

Property owners are now provided with a simple and accessible means to short-term let part of their
property, or all of their property, for a portion of time or all of the time. Property owners are
increasingly making economically rationalised decisions to list properties for short-term rental rather
than lease to long-term tenants. Symbiotically, tourists and travellers are seeking more value for
money, more travel affordability and a human experience offered by the peer-to-peer nature of share
economy transactions.

Whilst online accommodation share economy platforms have had an enormously positive impact on
tourism innovation and growth in the Noosa region, the logical extension of Airbnb’s business model
is to drive more and more people to host and travel through Airbnb. This inherently values the
vibrancy and tourism amenity of a neighbourhood higher than community connectivity and social
capital.

It is reasonable to contend that Airbnb is in part succeeding as a commercial enterprise at the
expense of community and residential liveability, by contributing to the negative consequences of
increased visitation and infiltration into residential areas. It may also be viewed that the reliance of
Airbnb, Stayz and others on peer-to-peer transactions within the sharing economy is concealing a
problematic shift toward outsourcing of responsibility and liability, avoidance of consumer protections
including adherence to safety regulations, and disruption of once stable industries.

Arguably though, it should also be noted that the business model development and consumer
interest in online accommodation share economy platforms can be viewed as a symptom of the
tourist industry’s almost exclusive focus on growth, which has historically had little or no strategic
consideration for the sustainability of tourism growth in a region.

The Tourism Noosa Strategy 2017-2022 states a key goal is to achieve tourism growth, aiming to
secure and build on Noosa’s position as one of Australia’s leading visitor destinations by identifying
opportunities for growth. Furthermore, the Sunshine Coast Airport Expansion project is also
designed to boost tourism and bring a greater volume of visitors to the region.




Short Term Accommodation - Online Platform Response Issues Paper                                 Page 4