The company would be willing to charge the lodging tax in Panama if the restrictions on the rental of real estate for tourism purposes were eliminated, and if the data on property owners was protected.

These are the conditions that representatives of the property rental platform proposed to the Panamanian government to begin negotiating the possible collection of the 10% lodging tax, also paid by hotels, in order to formalize their operation in the country.

In 2017, the 2,200 property owners in Panama registered with the website generated earnings of $7.2 million for the rental of 3,800 properties throughout the country.

See: “Boom in Vacation Rentals“

AirBnb.com representative for Central America and the Caribbean, Shawn Sullivan, told Prensa.com that “ … they are willing to sign an agreement with the Government to collect the 10% lodging tax, which is also paid by hotels, but under certain conditions.“

Among the requests of the company are the ” … elimination of Article 21 of Law 80 of 2012, which prohibits the rental of properties for tourism purposes for less than 45 days, as well as protection of the data of the owners of the properties registered with the platform.“

According to Sullivan, in other countries where similar agreements have been reached with governments, tourism has grown between 20% and 30%.