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AHTOP argued Airbnb did not merely connect parties through its platform but acted as an unlicensed estate agent, breaching French law. The court sought a ruling on
whether French estate agency law applied to Airbnb Ireland, which manages the platform in France. The ECJ found in favour of
Airbnb on two grounds. First, it ruled Airbnb could not be regulated as an estate agency on the grounds that it did not have a “decisive influence” over what hosts charge or what accommodation appears on its platform. Second, the ECJ faulted
French authorities for not notifying the EC of the requirement for Airbnb to hold an estate agent’s licence, as required by an EU directive. David Weston, chairman of the UK Bed & Breakfast Association, told Travel Weekly: “It appears a narrow ruling. It says the French court can’t regulate [Airbnb] as an estate agent in France. But it says any member state can regulate any platform if it undermines public safety.” He noted an analysis of
Airbnb UK listings in August 2019 found more than 42,000 had neither smoke nor carbon monoxide detectors and said: “It shows the potential scale of the issue. There should be safety rules to protect consumers.” Weston added: “We think
a UK court ruling would find [Airbnb has] some liability [for safety].” An AHTOP spokesman
noted: “We filed our complaint in 2015 and France has since introduced new regulations that apply also to Airbnb. Airbnb is going to be regulated in France, just not as a real estate agent.”
‘Look beyond plas T
The industry has to question how it operates, former Travel Foun Climate change is
he travel industry needs to move beyond a focus on “small issues” of
sustainability to address the wider impacts of tourism. That is the view of Salli Felton,
who stood down as chief executive of The Travel Foundation in September 2019 after eight years at the industry charity and six years at its helm. Felton has no doubt about the
biggest issue facing the industry. “Climate change is in our faces,” she said. “It’s becoming more and more apparent. It’s sad it had to get to this crisis point, but it’s not a surprise. “It has to make us question how
we operate day to day and that is a difficult pill to swallow.” She also feels recognition of the
negative impacts of tourism is long overdue. “We’ve cottoned on to some of the effects of overtourism, but it’s just a symptom of wider issues around destination management,” she said. “You have huge growth in arrivals, people all wanting to go to the same places and the industry not considering what happens other than growth.”
‘Destinations must act’ Felton noted: “Tere isn’t one company or party responsible. It is about how we gauge and measure tourism. But it’s time for destinations to take back some power.” She cited the Netherlands as an
example, saying: “The Netherlands tourism board is looking to reassess what tourism brings to the country and what works for residents.” The board announced a switch
from promoting the country to trying to manage the huge numbers of visitors last May, noting: “‘More’ is not always better. Instead of
78 9 JANUARY 2020
in our faces. It has to make us question how we operate and that is a difficult pill to swallow
destination promotion, it’s time for destination management.” Felton said: “Some destinations
are starting to look at how to raise funds to do things differently. In some cases that means [imposing] tourism taxes, in others it does not – it means other forms of funding. “Tourism taxes are one
component. I completely understand why the industry is cynical about taxes. I’m cynical myself about where tourism tax revenue goes.” However, she said: “Majorca has done a good job in starting the process.” Majorca and the other Balearics
islands introduced a sustainable tourism tax, levied on overnight stays and cruise visitors, in 2016. The islands’ government planned to spend €128 million of the revenue on tourism-related projects in 2019.
However, the local hospitality sector remains critical of the tax. Felton believes the industry is not
moving fast enough on sustainability or acting at the scale required. “The industry can do a lot of
little things, but these are not being replicated at scale and we have to keep repeating them,” she said. “The focus is on relatively small
issues to please customers, on things that are customer-friendly. There is less looking at the impact businesses are having. For example, plastics are a massive problem. But removing plastics should be one bit of a much-bigger programme, certainly in terms of the big companies.”
Online giants ‘too removed’ She is critical of the online travel giants, saying: “Online companies are taking small initiatives, [but] they perceive themselves as not part of the problem. Tey [argue they] are just ‘platforms’, but they send huge numbers of tourists to bucket-list destinations and do it with no contemplation of whether it’s sustainable. They are too far removed from the product on the ground and responsibility is diluted.”
SALLI FELTON
O Joined The Travel Foundation in 2011 as head of programmes. O Became acting chief executive in 2013 and chief executive in 2014, taking over from Sue Hurdle.
O Stood down in September 2019 to return to Australia, handing over to new chief executive Jeremy Sampson.
O Previously worked for Virgin Holidays as responsible business manager and was an environmental manager at Heathrow.
O Felton says: “The Travel Foundation was very much a UK-focused charity when I started. Now, it’s seen more as a global leader in sustainable tourism. We have people coming to us from industry and governments to seek advice and to see our research. We’ve gone to a different level.”
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