That the number of short-term vacation rental rooms has surpassed the number of traditional visitor accommodations (see Thursday newspaper) is no big surprise. Recent analyses by the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) and data firm Lighthouse with input from the Bureau of Statistics showed that last year the island had more than 5,100 active vacation rentals on platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO and Booking.com, compared to 3,568 Dutch-side hotel/timeshare/guest-house rooms.
In mid-2023 there had been 1,301 units of the former and 3,368 of the latter, good for respectively 3,357 and 5,357 rooms. As said at the time, the writing was already on the wall.
The island’s vacation rental sector is said to have generated an estimated US $319 million in revenues last year. However, 63% or $202 million of that was earned on the French side and only 37% or $117 million south of the open border.
These amounts were produced with respective occupancy rates of 40% (108,000) and 35% (85,000). Average room rates north of the border were also higher at $480 compared to $389.
Comparisons are further complicated by the fact that several hotels list rooms on digital platforms too. Nevertheless, the message is clear: Vacation rentals are playing an increasingly greater role in the destination’s tourism.
Still, terms like “economic driver” and “contributing to the economy” should be used carefully. For one thing, traditional accommodations probably employ more personnel, which has a major socioeconomic impact.
Not only that, but they usually pay taxes and social premiums also on behalf of their workers. It seems obvious that the vacation rental business – certainly on the Dutch side – is to large degree informal in the sense of both employment and fiscal compliance.
This is something SHTA and others have been hammering on, because it creates an uneven playing field and the unfair competition in the local hospitality industry. Government’s efforts to regulate and tax short-term rentals have so far produced little positive result, not in the last place because many of the property owners involved are not even registered taxpayers.
A revenue- and information-sharing agreement as established in many other places was being discussed, but according to Finance Minister Mariska Gumbs, Airbnb is now requesting a law targeting all providers and not just them. That would require comprehensive, strict and effective enforcement to ensure equal treatment and prevent potential legal problems in the future.
As difficult as the latter may seem, it appears to be the only realistic way for the country and its people to get a bigger piece of the pie from this growing lodging pillar. If you can’t beat them, join them.
