Homeowners should be encouraged to rent their properties to tourists and ought to be initially exempt from hotel occupancy tax, according to the Opposition.

The Progressive Labour Party said yesterday that reform of the law regulating tourist accommodation was needed to make it easier for Bermudians to let out their homes to visitors to the Island.

As The Royal Gazette reported yesterday, property owners in Bermuda who rent out their homes using popular letting sites such as Airbnb.com could be in breach of the Hotel (Licensing and Control) Act 1969 if they sleep six or more people and are not licensed.

The Act requires any tourist accommodation which sleeps six or more to be licensed with the Government as a hotel and for the owners to pay hotel occupancy tax of 7.25 percent for each guest.

This newspaper discovered ten homes for rent on Airbnb which sleep six or more people but do not appear on the Bermuda Tourism Authority’s list of licensed hotels at www.gotobermuda.com.

A Ministry of Tourism Development spokeswoman said the advertisements had been brought to the attention of the Ministry’s regulation and policy section.

The PLP said in a statement that rather than punishing the owners, Government should work towards fixing the situation and “rolling out the red carpet to Bermudians”.

Opposition leader Marc Bean said: “The news that many new Bermudian-owned tourism properties may have run afoul of the Hotel (Licensing and Control) Act 1969 ... is disheartening, yet represents a real opportunity for reform.

“With Bermudian job losses mounting, the Progressive Labour Party’s position is that we must examine ways to reduce red tape and create red carpet for Bermudians seeking to create economic opportunities for themselves and jobs for Bermudians.

“The current approach protects vested interests while creating barriers to Bermudians seeking to enter into the one sector that should be open to all: tourism.

“The efforts of these entrepreneurs must be supported, not hindered, as their success would mean adding much-needed beds to our overall tourism inventory, diversifying our product and, perhaps most importantly, getting our people back in the business of hosting our overseas visitors.”

Mr Bean said the PLP was calling for:

• a review of the licensing process for tourist accommodation;

• a three-year hotel occupancy tax exemption for new tourism properties which sleep less than ten people; and

• the legal term ‘hotel’ to be redefined as meaning a tourist property which sleeps ten or more people.

Shadow Tourism Minister Zane DeSilva said: “Encouraging more Bermudians to convert private homes to tourism rental accommodations is a tangible solution that would generate more foreign currency, particularly since visitors that arrive via air spend on average six times more than spent by cruise passengers.

“Encouraging more Bermudians into tourism by making it less cumbersome — ‘rolling out the red carpet to Bermudians’ — will make us less dependent on international business and lessen the need to bolster immigration numbers.

“Supporting reform that balances standards with slashing red tape will make this transition more encouraging and assistance from the Island’s banks through low interest loans would provide a much-needed boost to our economy.”

Mr DeSilva said the PLP encouraged current and future tourism property owners to respect the existing law and for Government to work with any owners who have run afoul of the Hotel (Licensing and Control) Act 1969.

“We encourage the Government to work with us on these proposals and other ideas to create more red carpet and less red tape for Bermudians seeking to create businesses for themselves and jobs for Bermudians,” he said.

We asked Tourism Development Minister Shawn Crockwell for comment but didn’t hear back from his spokeswoman by press time.