Airbnbs could attract government levies soon

Calvin Powell Airbnb owners will now have to register and acquire licenses for their accommodations.

In a public notice to hospitality operators, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) now says Airbnbs must be regularized as hospitality industry players in the Ghanaian market.

The Ghana tourism authority is Mandated by law under the tourism act, 2011 (ACT 817) to register and licence all tourism enterprises. Airbnb, an online platform that hosts properties and serves as an intermediary between clients and property owners, is to a large extent unregulated in the country.

It is a San Francisco-based company and has the following global outlook. Since its establishment in 2007, Airbnb has had 6 million listings worldwide as of December 2021. The company has grown from the American market where it was conceived to one hundred thousand cities and towns globally as of December 2021.

While many were hesitant to list their properties at the early stages of hitting the market, as of 30th June 2021, Airbnb had four million-plus Hosts. The uptake of Airbnb by both hosts and travellers has turned in billions of dollars in revenue.

As of February 2022, Airbnb hosts earned 150 billion, with the average earnings per person in the United States being 13, 800 thousand dollars. In Ghana, most especially in the Capital City Accra, the platform boasts of more than five thousand seven hundred and six hosts. Occupancy stands at 34 percent with an average 80 dollars rate daily and slightly lower in the outskirts. Over the years, Airbnb has become a preferred accommodation option over hotels.

According to Ghana Hoteliers Association, tourists spend sixty percent of their budget on hotel accommodation. As such, many backpack travellers opt to stay in Airbnbs. This allows them to wiggle room in their budgets to explore and experience Accra.

The cost factor has popularized Airbnb among young and middle-aged travellers. In an effort to raise 5 billion dollars from arts, events, and tourism, the government is diversifying its revenue-making streams.

Airbnb hosts and other hospitality facilities now have up to the end of May 2022 to regularize their operations as the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) would have no option but to close such facilities as their continued operation will be illegal and also contribute to underdevelopment. The government hopes to streamline the sector from June 1, 2022, in order to rope all into the tax net.