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Private Accommodation Online: A Threat or a Challenge for the Hospitality Industry?

No one is surprised by the fact that we live online. We purchase our holidays or make accommodation reservations on the internet. And technologies go even further. Taking this fact into consideration, the hospitality industry in the Czech Republic must prepare itself for new challenges. Simple reservation systems, responsive webs, and concierge services via mobile phones are services that are being introduced. High-speed Wi-Fi that is free of charge for guests is today a matter of course.

At present, most of the discussions taking place in the Czech hospitality industry are about those web services that provide accommodation in the private residences of their registered members. Such platforms do not own nor operate a single room, yet they are the largest providers of accommodation in the world and they continue to search for new opportunities, including within the Czech Republic. We definitely welcome the competition. Certainly, the competition in Prague is already large, but this only pushes us forward and continuously motivates us to improve our standings in the eyes of guests and to offer them something extra. The problem that worries the hospitality industry in relation to such platforms is the so-called grey area where these services are often found, and that for several reasons.

First of all, it is the safety of us all. The data of accommodated guests must be regularly reported to the Alien Police. When they rent private accommodation, more often than not the data of these individuals is not recorded, and we thus do not have a complete picture of who can be found in our surroundings.

Another fact is that hotels must meet the requirements of a range of norms, regulations, and other conditions put in place by valid legislation and directives. Their compliance is the subject of inspections by various authorities, be it adhering to hygiene norms or having a system of fire prevention in buildings, for example. Providers of private accommodation are not yet subject to such inspections, since it is not determined what and how they should comply to.  

Also, this online platform does not collect the full amount of the tourist tax, which helps the locals develop their municipal infrastructure and which comprises a large source of finances for them. The payment of rent tax is also questionable, since this is very difficult to check. In Austria, for example, they have introduced a very complicated system of controlling the payment of tax – they monitor the occupancy rate and the price directly on the platform, and then check to see if the taxes have been paid to the full amount. They have gone even further in Berlin, where they have forbidden the rental of entire accommodation units, and one can only share space with the owner, which greatly invades the privacy of tourists.  

Surely, the Czech hospitality industry should not fight against this platform, as it is a natural part of progress. We should, however, require just conditions for everyone, as are guaranteed by the Act on Equal Access to Entrepreneurship. At the moment it seems that we have yet a long way to go, and so I recommend that Czech hoteliers emphasise the advantages of hotels, which are especially safety and above-standard services that are not available to guests in private accommodation, such as restaurants and bars, 24-hour reception desks including a concierge, room service, housekeeping, or merely the smiles and the personal approaches of the hotel staff that come along with these services :-). 

Author: Klaus Pilz,Regional Director Vienna House Czech Republic, a hotel chain that operates 6 hotels in the Czech Republic.