Collier commissioners meeting with tourism development to discuss impact of vacation rentals like Airbnb

Reporter: Nicole Lauren
Published:

Collier Tourism Development is meeting with Collier commissioners to discuss the impacts vacation rentals like Airbnb, VRBO, and other online rental sites are having on Collier County tourism.

Executive Director Jack Wert says the purpose of this meeting is to simply get guidance from council on what the next steps should be.

For example, should more research be done to find out the pros and cons of these rentals, or should they find out what percentage of vacation rentals are already happening in Collier County?

Most research gathered so far is on the tourism development tax, or better known as the bed tax.

When an owner rents out their property, they are required to pay a tourism tax, and sales tax to the state. But as of now, Airbnb and Collier County have yet to strike a deal that solidifies that.

That tax is important because it goes towards things like our roads, and infrastructure.

Tourism Development says there are ways around this, and if they don’t reach an agreement, commissioners can still establish their own ordinance.

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