CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Prince Edward Island has experienced an almost 50 per cent growth in the number of licensed tourism establishments over the last three years, a sign that the growth of short-term rental properties listed on sites like Airbnb or VRBO is far outpacing the growth of traditional hotels or motels.
The number of overnight tourism establishments, including hotels, campgrounds or even private condo units, has grown from between 1,100 and 1,200 in 2016 to 1,795 as of 2019, P.E.I. MLAs heard during a standing committee meeting on Tuesday.
Chris Jones, director of strategic initiatives for the department of Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture, said the province has seen significant growth in revenue from overnights stays in recent years, with an average annual growth rate of 4.3 per cent.
Jones said many tourists are looking for the more “authentic experience” of staying in a neighbourhood on properties listed on Airbnb, rather than staying in a traditional hotel room.
“If we didn’t have it, they may not come. So we may not see that growth,” Jones said.
Despite this, the department is not currently tracking the number of licensed tourism establishments that would be considered a “short-term rental.” This is partly due to the difficulty in classifying a short-term rental, as traditional hotels often advertise rooms on sites like Airbnb.
“Airbnb is not a type of accommodation but rather a marketing platform,” read a slide from Jones’ presentation.
Despite this, staff from the department regularly track properties and homes listed on short-term rental websites and require all such operators to obtain a licence. At present, there are over 436 licensed establishments that house tourists in either vacation homes, apartments or condo units.
Green MLA Ole Hammarlund noted the department does not track which units listed on Airbnb or VRBO would be considered owner-occupied and which would not.
“Do you have any intention or possibility of gathering that data?” Hammarlund asked.
“I’m not so sure that would be our mandate,” Jones said.
Regulation
The province’s Tourism Industry Act does not currently require the department to define what would be considered a short-term rental property.
The City of Charlottetown is in the midst of consultations related to regulation of short-term rentals. Some proposals have suggested the city only allow short-term rentals that are owner-occupied, meaning the owner of the property lives on-sight.
Housing activists have argued the growth of short-term rentals has removed long-term units from the rental market at a time when the Island is facing a chronic shortage of affordable apartments.
Liberal MLA Robert Mitchell said he was concerned about the impact that the growth of short-term rentals has had on university and college students on the Island. He said MLAs had previously heard a presentation from the UPEI student union about the difficulties students face in finding apartments in Charlottetown.
But Mitchell also said the growth in tourism overnight stays in recent years has also been a positive development for the economy.
“It’s phenomenal when we look at the increase we’ve seen,” Mitchell said.
“Do we see any end in sight?”
“I don’t think so,” Jones replied.
