With Penang looking to regulate the short-term rental accommodation (STRA) law, AirBnB has launched a campaign seeking for fairness and sensibility towards its hosts.
The rental platform says its data reveals a significant surge in Malaysian travel on the platform. Domestic guest searches for Malaysia stay on Airbnb grew more than 150 percent year-over-year in Q1 2022, while international guest searches grew more than 140 percent year-over-year in the same period. Across both domestic and international guests, the most popular destinations nationwide were Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Johor Bahru, Georgetown and Malacca.
Mich Goh, Airbnb’s Head of Public Policy for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said, “We remain committed to working together with Penang’s tourism industry to spur economic recovery, grow tourism into the future and support local businesses and jobs. We want to ensure a Penang Untuk Semua – that everyone in Penang can share in the benefits of a revitalized travel industry. STRA has long been a contributor to Malaysia’s economy by empowering everyday Malaysian Hosts who share their homes, as well as by offering travelers a wide variety of unique, family-friendly accommodation at different price points.
“We have met the Penang State Executive Council’s Office for Tourism and Creative Economy to discuss how Airbnb can continue to support the state’s tourism initiatives, and that we remain fully committed to working with the government on an effective regulatory framework that will enable Penang’s tourism recovery and long-term economic growth.”
Specifically, Airbnb said its local Malaysian Hosts, as well as members of the community, are advocating for:
- Simple online registration: To introduce a simplified online registration system for STRA providers to encourage compliance.
- An industry-wide Code of Conduct: To work with the government to co-create an industry-wide STRA Code of Conduct that is fair, reasonable, and representative, that sets clear community standards.
- Residents to decide on their respective building rules: Building residents to use the existing Strata Management Act to collectively decide with a 75% vote if STRA should be allowed or restricted, instead of a blanket statewide restriction on STRA. Based on local needs, residents can introduce additional by-laws e.g. to set the maximum number of nights a guest is able to stay in that strata building.
Long-term stays on Airbnb continue to grow in Malaysia and around the world. Long-term stays on the platform globally reached an all-time high in Q1 2022, more than doubling in size from Q1 2019; and continue to represent around one in every five nights booked. Nearly half of the nights booked on Airbnb globally in Q1 2022 were for one week or more.
