Airbnb and the Government of the Canary Islands have signed an agreement this Friday with the aim of "promoting sustainable and quality tourism in the archipelago". Within the framework of this collaboration, Airbnb has committed to "remove ads that do not comply with local regulations in a manifest way" and has launched a new tool that "will facilitate the adoption of the registration requirements established by the new European regulations."
Within the commitments established in the MoU, the Canary Islands Government will establish "a continuous dialogue with Airbnb" to take advantage of the platform's knowledge and experience and work together to "improve the quality and management of the tourist offer in the region, as well as promote a tourism model that benefits both residents and visitors."
A new protocol to accelerate the elimination of manifestly non-compliant tourist accommodations
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed by Airbnb and the Government of the Canary Islands, establishes a framework for collaboration to expedite the removal of tourist accommodations that clearly violate local regulations (such as campers, boats, tents or yurts) as well as Airbnb's terms of service. The platform will facilitate the effective removal of ads that do not comply with local regulations in a manifest way.
The initiative is part of the “notification and deactivation of ads protocol” developed by Airbnb, which establishes a clear and effective procedure to eliminate accommodation offers that have been identified by the authorities as being manifestly contrary to local regulations and Airbnb's terms of service.
Mandatory registration for all new listings in the Canary Islands
With immediate effect, Airbnb will require any new short-term rental listing advertised on the platform to display a registration number. In order to facilitate the inspection and identification work of the competent authorities and promote transparency, the system will only accept a specific format for the registration or license number and will prevent, from now on, that a short-term rental without a registration number can be advertised on Airbnb.
At the same time, Airbnb will launch an educational campaign aimed at the host community in the Canary Islands. This campaign will especially focus on the new European regulations and the registration and license requirements, which will be mandatory in Spain according to the new legislative context.
Jéssica de León, Minister of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, expressed her gratitude to Airbnb for its willingness to collaborate to guarantee transparency in the sector. “This public-private collaboration will allow us to control the irregular offer, because our objective is to protect the resident and the regulated tourist accommodations.” De León stressed that “following our roadmap, we are working so that the unregulated tourist offer, which also represents a detriment to our quality as a destination, has no place on the platforms.”
Jaime Rodríguez de Santiago, general director of Airbnb Marketing Services, SL has declared: “This collaboration agreement between the Government of the Canary Islands and Airbnb represents a fundamental step forward in the implementation of the new European framework for short-term rentals. Furthermore, it exemplifies Airbnb's efforts to strengthen its collaboration with cities and governments in Spain, with the aim of ensuring that the transition to the new EU regulations is successful for all.”
This new milestone adds to Airbnb's recent alliances with the Ibiza Island Council and the Region of Murcia to promote similar initiatives, and demonstrates the platform's commitment to partner with cities and governments throughout Spain to promote sustainable tourism that benefits all parties involved equally.
