To this end, Airbnb and the City of Vilnius have signed a joint agreement. The hosts in Vilnius have been informed about this new automated collection process. It is the first of such agreements in the region.
Airbnb is the first booking platform to automatically collect tourism levies for guests staying in the Baltic States.
From 1st February onwards, Airbnb will automatically collect city tax due per night and per person when booking a stay in Vilnius and will transfer it directly to the City of Vilnius. With this digital solution, Airbnb will lessen the administrative workload of tourism organizations and hosts. Airbnb is the first travel platform to sign such an agreement with a city in Lithuania and in the Baltic states.
Inga Romanovskienė, Director of Vilnius city tourism and business development agency “Go Vilnius” says: “Vilnius is being discovered by more and more tourists as an amazing place for city breaks filled with culture, history, and great food in a walkable UNESCO-listed Old Town. Moreover, Vilnius is packed with natural settings – almost half of the city is filled with green spaces and it’s a perfectly safe destination for holidays. Vilnius is also a dynamic city where agreements with important partners such as Airbnb are reached quickly. It’s a significant improvement for the administration of the city tax for hosts and tourists alike.”
Kathrin Anselm, General Manager DACH & CEE Airbnb adds that the company is working with regulators and tourism organisations to promote responsible and sustainable tourism and enable home sharing in the Baltics.
Airbnb has over 400 agreements with local and national governments and organizations around the world on the automated collection of tourism taxes. Globally, Airbnb has already collected more than $2 billion in tourist-related taxes through such agreements.