Den Haag, Rotterdam & Utrecht look to cash in on Airbnb

The municipalities of The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht are in talks with accommodation site Airbnb about paying tourist tax through the website for the temporary rent of accommodation, broadcaster NOS reports. The three municipalities want a similar structure as in Amsterdam, where a test project is currently running in which accommodation may only be rented through the site under specific conditions. Among other things, those renting accommodation have to pay tourist tax through the site and homes may not be rented out for more than two months a year. The test project is running until end next year. According to The Hague, the municipality leading the talks on behalf of all three, the three cities will await the results of this project before making concrete arrangements. NOS reports that the concrete agreements will likely only be about paying tourist tax, as disturbances caused by tourists are much less of a problem in The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht than in Amsterdam. Eindhoven is also working on a policy with Airbnb, using Amsterdam as example. Groningen states that at this stage a special policy is unnecessary as residents only sporadically rent out rooms through the website.