The Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH) expressed satisfaction with the approval in the first reading of the bill that aims to regulate non-traditional lodging and its intermediation through digital platforms.
According to a CCH statement, hotel entrepreneurs began the fight to regulate non-traditional lodging more than four years ago, with the purpose of coexisting with that activity, but with regulations that matched the market distorted by such businesses.
The Chamber recognizes the commitment of the legislators who, from the beginning, were involved in generating modern legislation and in line with the new reality of the housing market in Costa Rica,”
indicates the note.
Javier Pacheco, president of the CCH, said that the approval of the initiative is an achievement that had the support of the formal private business sector and legislators from different banks.
The approval, pending only the second reading, will not only get those who provide accommodation on the digital platforms to respect to security for users, but it forces them to contribute to the payment of taxes to the government, as hotels have done since decades ago,”
said the statement.
The project establishes regulations for the provision of tourist services such as the rental of
homes, apartments, villas, chalets, bungalows or rooms, which will be under the tutelage of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
The operation of digital platforms that serve as marketers or intermediaries between customers and those who own the sites to rent them will also be regulated.