Prague City Hall opposes the Airbnb platform
On January 3, in an interview with The Observer, the Sunday edition of the British newspaper The Guardian, Zdeněk Hřib noted that the project to limit Airbnb's operation is a key point of the program aimed at returning the city to its residents and improving the situation caused by the negative impact of tourism on life in the capital. According to Zdeněk Hřib, due to Airbnb, Prague has turned into one big hotel, and the inability to restrict this platform is "eating the city from within."
"If earlier we could control the number of tourists in the city simply by approving a certain number of hotels with a certain capacity, today Prague cannot limit the number of places for tourists to stay. The numbers are truly critical," Hřib said.
As Radio Prague notes, the Czech capital has about 1.3 million residents. In 2018, it was visited by 8 million tourists (compared to just 2.5 million in 2000). And the number of tourists will continue to grow.
In the opinion of the city administration, the development of the Airbnb online platform also played a role here. The amount of housing rented through Airbnb tripled from 2016 to 2018. This has led to increased noise and garbage in areas where tourists rent accommodation, negatively affecting residents' quality of life. Another negative consequence is a sharp rise in housing prices in Prague.
Zdeněk Hřib stated that the current state of affairs is far from Airbnb's original idea, which was to allow tourists to stay in the homes or apartments of local residents, share travel experiences, try local food, or cook a dish from their national cuisine for the hosts as a token of gratitude. He noted that the service has turned into a hotel business, where the landlord profits at the expense of their neighbors' comfort.
The mayor intends to persuade the Czech Ministry of Regional Development to support laws allowing local authorities to issue their own regulations concerning short-term rentals depending on living conditions in specific cities. Zdeněk Hřib emphasized that Airbnb must be regulated in a way that prevents dishonest earnings while preserving the original idea.