Govt Goes After Airbnb Operators
A holiday home in Nanyuki available on the Airbnb application.
File
The tourism body is embarking on registering and licensing all serviced apartments, homes and villa operators in the country. Furnished apartments and private villas are among the licensable accommodation facilities that offer regulated hospitality services. They are listed in our 4th Schedule of the Tourism Authority Regulations 2014 and are required to be registered, inspected, and licensed by TRA before the commencement of operation. For members to be successfully registered by TRA and issued with the regulatory license, they are required to meet minimum requirements for licensing of such activities and services, a letter by TRA Central Regional manager, Moses Karanja read in part.
THE STANDARD By
Peter Theuri |
April 4th 2021 at 00:00:00 GMT +0300
A bedroom at the Nyali golf view residence in Mombasa. [Maarufu Mohamed, Standard]
Owners of Airbnb facilities will now have to obtain licences and pay annual fees to run their homestay businesses.
The Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA) says the move is aimed at regulating the fast-evolving accommodation and services sector.
In a March 1 letter to Nimmoh Homestays, a company that specialises in furnished apartments and villas, TRA said all members of the company that were undertaking the accommodation business were required to have registered with the authority by March 31.
Inspection of all registered units was to start this month.