The "low-hanging fruit" of the accommodation sector is in the sights of the Central Otago District Council, which is investigating a possible rating system for short-term rentals in the area.
At Wednesday’s meeting, councillors heard community vision group manager Dylan Rushbrook’s report on the possibility of a rate targeting accommodation like Airbnbs.
The region’s visitor economy was up 39% since 2019 — well above the national average — and primarily powered by the domestic market.
While the council had never previously taken a public position on visitor-funded solutions, there was "little doubt" the visitor economy, and its impact, would continue to grow, his report said.
"You could absolutely argue that this unfairly targets a single part of the visitor economy, which is obviously the accommodation sector," Mr Rushbrook said.
"It’s really hard to target any other part, and so it is, I guess, low-hanging fruit."
In neighbouring Queenstown, there have been concerns an overabundance of Airbnbs has damaged the residential rental market — in February, hotelier Mark Rose said they were destroying the fabric of the community.
Mr Rushbrook estimated the proposed rate would impact at least 406 rentals in Central Otago.
These generated an average of revenue of $36,600 per year.
"Even if it’s only 100 properties at a $2000 targeted rate on their property, it’s a $200,000 income," he said.
Tourism Advisory Board member and councillor Tamah Alley said the proposal had already been considered by some providers in the community.
"I’m aware that there are some investors in this community who are already factoring this in when they’re looking at potential purchases, because they anticipate that it will be coming."
Councillors agreed staff would develop the targeted rating proposal to be included in consultation for the 2026-27 annual plan and, if implemented, it would come into effect on July 1, 2026.
In the same motion, councillors also confirmed the council’s support for Queenstown Lakes District Council’s proposed local visitor levy.
Staff would investigate the introduction of a localised visitor levy for Central Otago in the future, in the absence of a national solution.
