FORMER Bahamian Tourism Minister, Vincent Vanterpool-Wallace has strongly urged the Turks and Caicos Islands government to put regulations in place as soon as possible to regulate airbnbs and VRBOs in the country.
Vanterpool-Wallace’s firm urging came just a few weeks ago during a business conference hosted by Fortis TCI here in the TCI.
It also came at a time when the government is only now talking about regulating this emerging vacation rental service in the country, and when many hotels are protesting the unfair advantage VRBOs have over traditional options.
But Vanterpool-Wallace’s warning not only focused on the unfairness of these rental options, the thrust of his argument was the potential and known damage that these business have had on other countries – such as the Bahamas – and what it can have on the Turks and Caicos’s very highly rated and sought after tourism product.
The former CEO of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation noted that a study of some Caribbean countries has indicated that the Turk and Caicos has the highest potential for bad deals where AirBnB and VRBO are concerned.
“The bad deal is that Airbnb has the potential to disrupt the business model that was put in place here… when you begin to see some new clusters of people coming in… you’ve got a problem.”
Vanterpool-Wallace’s reference to the local business model harkens back to earlier statements he had made at the Fortis conference.
Those statements related to the investors in the TCI developing a business model that attracted a particular high end and wealthy cluster of clients, who stick together when seeking out vacation spots.
Drawing reference to the Bahamas’s vacation rental situation and the damage that has been done to the country’s reputation through some of these places, Vanterpool-Wallace stated that the Turks and Caicos has to be careful to guard its reputation.
“There is such a thing as the economic value of reputation and that has to be guarded as closely as you possibly can.
“So, with Airbnb you got to decide where they are located and where not to, you have to deal with the licensing, how you’re going to license them, you have to deal with inspections to make sure they are up to par, and they have to pay their taxes.”
He pointed out that if these things are not in place, then these people are taking advantage of the reputation and the economy of the country and they are not contributing anything.
He noted also that the Turks and Caicos especially, does not have a full appreciation for what it has, and how important it is to preserve its tourism product.
“The birds of a feather idea, if you want to preserve that, and make it stronger, you have to try to figure out what it is you’re doing very well and why, and making those things stronger.
“Because you need those birds coming back and continuing to flock here,” the former Bahamian minister urged.
Vanterpool-Wallace’s statemen is especially relevant to the TCI right now, as the new government battles with having to regulate the popular and controversial industry.
Back in March, Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson promised that regulations will be put in place to ensure protection of the TCI’s product.
At that press conference, held on March 2nd, she said: “We want to do that from two stand points and that is to make sure that we are not losing revenue, to make sure that it is regulated and also the issue of national security, because we want to know who is renting where.
“In the recent unsettling environment as it relates to crime, we want to know where people are in this country and it is important to know where tourists are in these stand alone villas and heavily-bushed and not well lit areas.”
However, she did accept that not all of these rentals are illegal or unregulated, but that the industry of itself has to be regulated and managed better.
Back in February, information the Weekly News pointed to quite a number of unregulated villas, condos and private homes in the TCI.
A call was made at the time from the owners of the Regent Grand and other hotels for greater regulatory practices to be put in place by the government.
